Lili Añel

Click here to read Ticket Entertainments Feb. 1, 2008 Interview with Lili
Click here to read Philly Intelligencer's Feb. 12, 2008 Interview with Lili
June 1, 2007
Lili Añel
Dream Again (Wall-I)
Cuban-influenced singer-guitarist Lili Añel is part soul sister, part jazz chanteuse and pure dynamite. With distinct folk and reggae underpinnings, she suggests Nina Simone blended with Joan Armatrading. Indeed, Armatrading’s “Down to Zero” (one of the few exercises in ego deflation that can hold its own against Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone”) is the only cover among the 14 tracks that fill Añel’s third disc, the first to provide her full creative control as co-producer. The album might well have been titled Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing, as Añel embarks on the musical equivalent of a whitewater-rafting expedition, traveling from the calm romantic idealism of “Between Me” to the stormy pain of “Over You” and wavy trepidation of “Try Again” and “I’m Sorry”, two distinctly evocative perspectives on rekindled love.
Añel also includes two newly recorded carryovers—the blackly despondent “If” and idly dismissive “Nothing in Common,” now done, she says the way she’d originally intended—from her previous disc, Hi-Octane Coffee, then sums it all up with the pensive title track that insists, no matter what hardships may arise, a fierce unwillingness to succumb to life’s nightmares. Her songwriting is consistently excellent, ofttimes Joni Mitchell sharp, and her wide-ranging but unswervingly thoughtful performances do her songs full justice.
- Christopher Loudon
Lili Añel
Dream Again (Wall I) 9/10
A tremendous talent who honed her chops alongside Greenwich Village folk stalwarts Suzanne Vega and Shawn Colvin, Lili Añel returns with her third and best recording after a five-year hiatus. Possessing a singular, smoky-sounding vocal style that falls somewhere between Joan Armatrading (Añel covers Armatrading’s "Down to Zero" here) and Nina Simone (especially on "Life or Death"), Añel’s recent move to Philly yielded a collaboration with fretless-bass player Cooke Harvey, who helped co-helm an extraordinary album that might be just a bit bass-heavy—Añel’s voice and phrasing are too extraordinary to be given anything less than centerstage. Her highly personalized lyricism shows added depth from past recordings, whether it’s in the samba-like "Over You" or the snappy-edged light funk of "Temporary Amnesia." Elsewhere, Añel incorporates songs about her faith (the hypnotic "Life or Death" and gorgeous hit-written-all-over-it "If God Had a Wallet") that never come off preachy, with the latter existing on the same plane as Joan Osborne’s "One of Us." Dream is a fabulous, rock-solid gift of exquisitely penned and sung songs. This deserves to be a commercial hit. —Skitch Mulligan
I completed my third CD DREAM AGAIN in early 2007. My co-producer was bassist, COOKE HARVEY who I have been fortunate to have been working with this past year and who has aided me in taking my music to a level I've always wanted. I have two previous CDs to my credit, "Laughed Last" (Palmetto Records) and "Hi-Octane Coffee". Both are still available for sale at www.lilianel.org.store . I was born and raised in New York City, Spanish Harlem, to be exact. Around my 4th birthday, my family moved to the South Bronx. I am lucky to have grown up during a time when radio was a lot more open; you'd hear The Beatles, Bob Dylan, James Brown Tommy James and the Shondells, Judy Collins, Nat King Cole and The Strawberry Alarm Clock all in one sitting.
I studied music at City College of the City University of New York's Leonard Davis Center for the Performing Arts. While I did not graduate, I was lucky enough to have studied voice under the guidance of mezzo-soprano JANET STEELE as well as having studied with legendary jazz vocalist SHEILA JORDAN. I studied guitar and harmony at Guitar Study Center; this was an incredible schooling for me, studying with various New York City session musicians. School won't give you "talent" but it will aid you in growing as a musician on a practical and technical end; the rest of the "schooling" comes from going out there and just doing it.
I am happily a resident of Philadelphia, PA and I perform in and around the Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York vicinity. I’ve met some fine musicians and made a friend or two since my arrival in Philly. I’ve sung with Patricks Head quite a bit at gigs and on two of their recordings Poor Man’s Shuffle and Dylan’s One More Cup of Coffee. My liaison with Patricks Head has blossomed not only to a shared love of music, but a wonderful friendship as well.
In this picture, I was thrilled to be singing with one of my heroes, Garland Jeffreys . Garland sat in with me at my New York CD Release show which was held at The Cornelia Street Café . It was very exciting singing “New York Skyline”, one of Garland’s most popular songs with him at my show. I’d always dreamt of it, and it happened! For more information on my upcoming gigs and ongoings, please visit my website: www.lilianel.org