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LATEST NEWS




February 8, 2025

"The CRAIC Radio Interview!"
Lil's interview on WPPM 106.5 FM CRAIC Radio last Thursday, featuring 3 NEW SONGS, can now be heard in its 35 minute entirety... Read More


January 30, 2025

"You Have A Visitor!"
Lili's latest release YOU HAVE A VISITOR will be available Monday Feb 3rd on most digital stores... Read More


January 12, 2025

"Fairy Tales!"
The new single "Fairy Tales", from the upcoming release YOU HAVE A VISITOR, will be available tomorrow January 13th. Continue reading to listen to a short clip... Read More



December 9, 2024

"Life Or Death Back In Stock!"
After being out of circulation for some time, Lili's import album is being made available... Read More


September 9, 2024

"Sold Out In Frenchtown!"
Sunday Music Club:Jazz, Soul, Pop Dynamo Lili Añel, In Concert (SOLD OUT) was the post made on the venue's website. Crossing a small narrow bridge over the Delaware River to the other side is a beautiful town... Read More


March 23, 2024

"Music Majesty!"
Lili & her twin sister, Barbara were interviewed by Phil Wharton on the INTRINSIC DRIVE website... Read More


January 15, 2024

"Fantastic Night At The Keswick Theatre!"
Last night Lili kicked off her first show of 2024 at the Keswick Theatre accompanied by upright bassist, Sam Nobles... Read More




BIOGRAPHY/PRESS

Lili Añel considers music a calling. This striking six-foot tall singer-songwriter-musician grew up in New York City's Spanish Harlem, where she discovered her passion for music. As a child, Lili 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 Afro-Cuban grandfather's recognition of how much joy her singing brought others, being the voice that stood out in that choir, which served to set her feet firmly on the path of a career in music.

After establishing a music career and a large following in New York in the vibrant 1980s Greenwich Village singer-songwriter scene, she relocated to Philadelphia in 2004. It was from her new home base where she continued to move audiences with her songs, now more jazz-inspired, highlighting themes reflecting her hope for the future, standing in her truth of life's difficulties and conjuring the strength for perseverance. All delivered with that unique voice, alternating between low reaches one feels in their center and a sweeter, more vulnerable falsetto.

"Think Joan Armatrading, Joni Mitchell and Nina Simone all rolled into one...blurs the lines between Jazz, Folk and intelligent Pop...strong and heartfelt." - Ken Franckling's Jazz Notes

While receiving airplay from radio stations across the country, Lili has been especially embraced by her adopted hometown of Philadelphia's WRTI 90.1 FM, which has included her in its NPR Live Sessions From Home, a series of artist-produced video performances created during the Covid pandemic.

Always defying rigid categorization, Lili's music has been called a hybrid of jazz/folk/soul/pop always propelled by her powerful vocal stylings, guitar playing and songs that often recall her eclectic influences, all merging seamlessly. "I am a sum of many parts ethnically, and my music reflects this," she says. "I have many influences, but I am totally me. When I am asked, 'What kind of music do you play?' my response is always 'I play Lili music.'"

Lili studied voice and performance at City College's Leonard Davis Center of Performing Arts, which included a year of study with Jazz vocal great Sheila Jordan. She would later attend classes at Eddie Simon's Guitar Study Center. Only able to afford one class, she would audit as many other classes as possible each semester, eventually gaining the respect of her instructors who admired her rigor and talent, allowing her to participate in class as if fully enrolled. She began attending open-mic nights, which led to her putting a band together and building a following, leading to the creation of her first record, 1994's Laughed Last, on Palmetto Records.

Taken under the wing of jazz superstar Cassandra Wilson, Lili soon shared bills with Madeleine Peyroux, Boz Scaggs, B.B. King, Peabo Bryson and Raul Midon, to name a few, along with being invited to perform a co-bill with Cassandra Wilson at her venue. Laughed Last (1994) was followed by Hi-Octane Coffee (2002), Dream Again (2007), 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 New York Music Awards in 2010 for Best Singer-Songwriter, Best Jazz Album and Best Female Jazz Vocalist. 2013 saw her release I Can See Bliss From Here, followed by 2017's Another Place, Another Time, each receiving critical acclaim. Both recordings were released under Cassandra Wilson's "Ojah Media Group", with Lili being invited to perform at Wilson's venue "The Yellow Scarf" in a co-bill with her.


Better Days (remastered) was released October 2021, and is a re-imagining of Lili's October 2019 album Better Days which lost momentum when COVID hit. This time Lili's co-producer Dale Melton who recorded, mixed and mastered the album was able to revisit it with fresh ears and make improvements with the addition of two more tracks and new artwork. One of the special bonus tracks is a live version of "Got Me Thinking" recorded at NPR station WRTI in Philadelphia. This stunning live track has never been publicly heard until now. The other bonus track "Climb The Wall" is one of Lili's best written songs from her 2013 album I Can See Bliss From Here. In its remastered form the song sits perfectly with Better Days (remastered). This captivating album was embraced by fans and critics alike.

Lili recently co-wrote a song for the award-winning play Folk City: The Greenwich Village Musical. The track, "Lovers Leap," has become a standout on the recently released cast album and was entered for several Grammy categories. The song will be included in the upcoming film adaptation of the play, directed by Venice Film Festival Award-winning director Jane Spencer.


Over all these years, Lili has performed to standing ovations from sold-out crowds in clubs to concert halls. And now, she has her ninth album, You Have a Visitor, ready for release in February 2025. Stepping aside from a full band, this is Lili at her most intimate, in a guitar/acoustic bass/drums-percussion trio setting. It is also her first time as a producer. With songs showing her wide range of influences, included are the free-form, Gil Scott Heron-inspired "I Saw the Light"; the jazzy, whimsical "Fairy Tales"; cinematic song of resignation and acceptance "Anymore"; and the African-roots folk track "Gone the Other Way." ("Lovers Leap" is also featured as a bonus track.) And, of course, there is that incomparable voice anchoring this highly anticipated, multiple-style-spanning release.


PDF Biography

"You Have A Visitor" PDF Press Release 1/1/2025

PRESS PHOTOS

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REVIEWS

“Lili's soulful jazz-folk vocals, her songwriting and her choices display enormous artistic maturity and depth. (Better Days) An album that should be heard from beginning to end and then repeated.”
Marc Myers - JazzWax
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"The songs on Better Days address real situations in Añel's own life and in others"
Chris M Slawecki - All About Jazz
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"Lili Añel remasters Better Days"
A.D. Amorosi - Dosage Magazine
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"This is a big voiced gal that knows how to really kick it out"
Midwest Record Review
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"This latest project from singer-songwriter Lili Añel is a great introduction to the depth and breadth of her music"
Ken Francling's CD Of Notes
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'Better Days': Lili Añel Digs Into The Heart Of The Matter
Carol Banks Weber - Festival Peak
"Better Days, demonstrates why her career has such longevity."
Angry Baby
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"Better Days... A well balanced and easily enjoyable listen..."
Take Effect
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"Jazz Album of the Week: In Spirit, an Anthology from Lili Añel"
Matt Silver - WRTI
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"Lili Añel brings her acclaimed music career from New York To Philly"
Suzanne Cloud - Broad Street Review
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INTERVIEWS

"Lili Añel Unplugged - the Post-Covid Interview"
Carol Banks Weber - Substack
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"Five questions with Philly jazz vocalist Lili Añel" WXPN - The Key READ MORE

"Lili Añel returns to Steel City, celebrates release of 'Another Place, Another Time' "
Southern Chester County Entertainment
READ MORE

MORE ALBUM REVIEWS

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UPCOMING SHOWS


February 6, 2025 CRAIC Radio WPPM 106.5 FM 4:00 PM Interview & Music - Philadelphia, PA

LIVE STREAM
PhillyCam.org

MARCH 8, 2025 Women Songwriters In The Round Kelly Center - Havertown, PA 19083

BUY TICKETS

APRIL 11, 2025 Lili Trio Orange - Delaware Water Gap, PA 18327

TIX SOON

APRIL 26, 2025 Lili Trio Godfrey Daniels - Bethlehem, PA 18015

TIX SOON



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