Home » Jazz Musicians » Lili Añel

Lili Añel

Lili Añel considers music a calling. This six-foot tall singer-songwriter grew up in New York City, where she discovered her passion for music. As a child Añel remembers, singing along to her mother’s Cuban, jazz and pop standard albums. It was also her mother who supported Lili’s desire to join the church choir. However, it was her grandfather’s recognition of how much joy singing brought to her being, which served to set her feet firmly on the path of a career in music. “My grandfather was very influential and instrumental,” says Lili. “When I sang in the church choir, he would sneak in to the Mass without telling me. I would ask him later, after letting him know that I saw him in the back, why he came to church at all and then left before it was over. His response was: “To hear you sing. I can hear your voice above the others.”

Defying categorization she calls her music a hybrid of “jazz/folk/soul/pop” combined with powerful vocals bringing her to the forefront. Lili continues to win over audiences with her vocal stylings, guitar playing and songs, that while often recalling her many influences (Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan, Janis Ian, Joan Armatrading) prove her own unique style. She has supported The Holmes Brothers, Boz Scaggs, B.B. King, Raul Midon, Robert Cray to name a few. Palmetto Records released her first CD “Laughed Last” (1994), following with “Hi-Octane Coffee” (2002), “Dream Again” (2007) and “Every Second In Between” (2009) all self-released. In 2007, JazzTimes Magazine said of Lili “…her songs are consistently excellent…” and proclaimed of her 2009 release “…a cd to blow your mind at first listen…”. “Every Second In Between” (produced by Glenn Barratt) also made the All About Jazz 2009 Year End Writers Choice for the “10 Best New Jazz Releases” list, along with winning 3 NY Music Awards 2010, Best Singer-Songwriter, Best Jazz Album and Best Female Jazz Vocalist. 2013 release, “I Can See Bliss From Here”, Lili celebrates her past on the autobiographical “Something To Do” along with songs of struggle and loss, always in complete honesty and total feeling. Lili's 2017 EP “Another Place, Another Time” brought her continued accolades, with an invitation to record 3 songs on WRTI's “Vu Haus” video series. The end of 2019, found Lili’s latest recording, “Better Days” released on Philadelphia label Winding Way Records. Lili and has been included in NPR’s Live Sessions Series and has been on Public Radio’s Emerging Artist Spotlight “Station Breaks: The Best New Songs From NPR Member Stations along with NPR’s 2021 Live Sessions From Home, showcasing video performances from artists during the pandemic.

Awards

2018 PEW Arts and Heritage Fellowship 2014 Nominee, Tri State Indie Music Awards - "Indie Jazz/Blues Band/Artist"
NY Music Award - 2010 - Best Female Singer-Songwriter-Female
NY Music Award - 2010 - Best Jazz Album “Every Second In Between”
NY Music Award - 2010 - Best Female Jazz Vocalist
NY Music Award - 1989 - Best Unsigned Artist

Gear

Tanglewood, Acoustic TW45-HB, Super Folk Cutaway Heritage Guitar

Lili Añel: Better Days

Read "Better Days" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki

by Chris M. Slawecki
May 19, 2020

Singer-songwriter Lili Añel and Better Days sound cut straight out of the northeast US. It's more than the geographic location of Añel's birth (Spanish Harlem, “El Barrio," in New York) or where she was raised (South Bronx), and it's more than where she has based her career (Philadelphia, PA). It's in the sound and attitude of her music. The songs on Better Days address real situations in Añel's own life and in others with an emotional directness straight from that ...

Album Review

Lili Añel: Another Place, Another Time

Read "Another Place, Another Time" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki

by Chris M. Slawecki
June 18, 2017

Lili Añel, one of Philadelphia's premier singer-songwriters, plays and sings with a lifetime's worth of emotion through the six songs on her 2017 EP Another Place, Another Time. Coming twenty years after her recorded debut, and her first release since 2013, Another Place plays on many of Añel's own heartstrings but also resonates with the listener's. “I wanted to do something different and overall this CD is a lot more sparse than some of my other recordings," Añel explained in ...

Album Review

Lili Añel: I Can See Bliss From Here

Read "I Can See Bliss From Here" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki

by Chris M. Slawecki
March 9, 2014

With I Can See Bliss From Here, singer-songwriter Lili Añel presents a set of personal songs that deeply touch the listener's ear, mind and soul, and bring to mind the confessional yet universal genius of such songwriters as Tracy Chapman, Phoebe Snow and Roberta Flack--they really are that well-written. “These are the songs I want to put out to the world at this time," she says simply. “It's what I wrote. They reflect where I am right now."

Tell Me More

Lili Añel: Finding Bliss by Climbing the Wall

by Belinda Ware
January 20, 2014

In defining the concept of good music, it goes without saying that it is subjective to the listener's taste both in styles and personal preferences. When the weekend arrives, it is common to see people heading out to catch a live music show in New York, jny: Philadelphia, and other cities across America that are popular artist havens. Some of the most interesting original music can be heard while walking on the boulevard passing by a small café ...

225

Event

Lili Anel Releases "Every Second in Between" NY CD Release Show

Source: Randex Communications
September 30, 2009

LILI ANEL CUBAN INFLUENCED SINGER-GUITARIST FROM SPANISH HARLEM READIES EVERY SECOND IN BETWEEN ‘PART SOUL SISTER, PART JAZZ CHANTEUSE, AND PURE DYNAMITE’ CONFIRMS SPECIAL PERFORMANCES IN BOTH HOME TOWNS TO CELEBRATE 5TH RELEASE IN HERALDED CAREER Nov. 10 in New York City Listen to new tracks from Every Second In Between PHILADELPHIA - LILI ANEL has been described as “Part soul sister, part jazz chanteuse, and pure dynamite" (Jazz Times), possessing “unusual power, fearless emotional directness, and a wide-open timbre” ...
read more

Performance / Tour

Lili Anel CD Release Show at Cornelia Street Cafe Friday, March 2nd at 9PM

Source: Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
February 8, 2007

CORNELIA STREET CAFE 29 Cornelia Street, NYC, New York212-989-9319 http://www.corneliastreetcafe.com between West 4th and Bleecker Sts, Greenwich Village 1 Subway to Sheridan Square; A, C, E, B, D, V, F to West 4th St. Lili Anel CD Release Show at Cornelia Street Cafe Friday, March 2, 2007 9PM Philadelphia, PA -- Lili Ael performs in New York City at the Cornelia Street Cafe, Friday, March 2, 2007 in celebration of ...
read more

“Better Days…the best song on Lili Añel’s new album…what you get on [this] release, is pure, pure feeling over pristine chops on nine heartfelt tracks…her voice rapturous and confessional…” – Carol Banks Weber/Festival Peak-Medium

“…sings with soul and vulnerability while also playing a richly textured guitar…all of the tunes, are intimate and vulnerable, with her vocal flexibility bringing you into her biographical lyrics…she wears her heart on her sleeve, bringing you into the deep recesses of her soul. Not easy in this day of feelings with no emotions” – Jazz Weekly-George W. Harris

“She tells riveting stories in a knowing voice, taking great chances with notes and phrases” - Ken Franckling/Jazz Notes

“…one of Philadelphia's premier singer-songwriters...her vocals throughout are nothing short of melodically—and, more importantly, emotionally—stunning… she writes clever, compelling songs that her soulful voice—sometimes brooding, sometimes beaming—renders with emotional power and grace” – Chris Slawecki/AllAboutJazz

“A uniquely gifted artist that is raw, ethereal and incredibly real. Lili sounds like no one but herself, a rare gift in an industry of clones” – Brent Black / Not Just Jazz

[Another Place, Another Time]...a gem of a record . . . [Añel] sings with a rawness that surpasses the music, the genre – Jazz Medium

"[I Can See Bliss From Here] One of the Top 13 Albums from 2013"...It’s very rare when an artist can immediately convey who they are in the first few stanzas of a song they’ve written and performed—without cheap theatrics, emotional blackmail, or panhandling for sainthood." - Carol Banks Weber, JazzExaminer

“[I Can See Bliss From Here]…a gem…powerful, indeed…” –Ken Franckling’s Jazz Notes

“'I CanSee Bliss From Here' is the album every artist hopes for” –Robbie Woliver, Dir. of NY Music Hall of Fame

"... an exciting, fresh sounding album...one can hear 'bliss'" -Kent Manthie, Reviewer Magazine

of Every Second In Between "Superbly crafted CD... proceeds to blow your mind at first listen...her songs are consistently excellent” —JazzTimes

“The Playlist: # 2 Most Intriguing Tune, September 16, 2009. The jazz chanteuse/guitarist refuses to surrender her identity on (Supposed to Be) this ballad from Every Second In Between.” —Steve Jones, USA Today

“This one has been exercising in my CD player for a week - and doesn’t want to leave the musical gym. My favorites: all 11 tracks.” —Ken Franckling’s Jazz Notes

“Her fifth album as a leader is a gem…hints of Cassandra Wilson and Nina Simone but Añel has her own voice.” —O's Place Jazz Magazine

“One of the most powerful singers in the Delaware Valley.” “Every Second In Between” —Mary Armstrong, Philadelphia City Paper’s Critic’s Choice 2009

A performer to watch [for]….a velvet voiced, vocal powerhouse whose earthy, jazz-laced tunes stretch the boundaries of traditional "singer-songwriter turf.” —Philadelphia Inquirer

Show less

Lili Añel

Awards

Gear

Lili Añel

Followers

Get more of a good thing!

Connect

More Access

For Musicians

Advertise