Known onstage as "Charlie the horn man", his saxophone playing helped earn the group a Grammy Award for best pop instrumental performance.

Their uncle, George "Big Chief Jolly" Landry, was lead singer of the Mardi Gras Indian group The Wild Tchoupitoulas.

[1][2] He joined the band of fellow New Orleanian Larry Williams, but his addiction to heroin landed him short jail terms for the shoplifting that sometimes supported his habit.

Moving to New York City after release from prison, he explored modern jazz and toured with Johnnie Taylor, Clarence Carter, and O. V.

[1][2] In 1976 he returned to New Orleans when his maternal uncle, George "Big Chief Jolly" Landry, called Charles and his brothers Art, Aaron, and Cyril together to record with his Mardi Gras Indian group, The Wild Tchoupitoulas.

[1][2][3] He moved to rural Massachusetts in the 1990s with his wife, Kristin Neville, and children and continued to perform and record with family members and a wide variety of musicians for the rest of his life.