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 a powerfully unique vocal style 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", 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 -"Every Second In Between" and Best Female Jazz Vocalist.

On her new CD release "I Can See Bliss From Here", Lili teamed up with Dale Melton ("The Melton Brothers) a friend and fellow musician who'd played in her rhythm section for over a year. The collaboration as co-producers has proven fruitful, delivering a profoundly honest and diverse recording. The songwriting on this, her 6th CD, is more musically diverse than any of her previous. Says Lili "these are the songs I want to put out to the world at this time. They reflect where I am right now". And reflect they do, musically drawing from Latin, Jazz, Folk, Blues and Pop, as much a hybrid as Lili herself, a New York-born Cuban-African American. Supported by some of the area's top musicians along with musicians who Lili knew and worked with in New York, "I Can See Bliss From Here" proves that Lili Añel continues to be a singer/songwriter at the top of her game and recognized as a recording artist who successfully connects with the world.


#10 in WRTI's Top 100 Jazz Countdown of 2014!

Bliss' "Something To Do" on WRTI's Jazz Hot 11 for 11 weeks
and #1 for 3 weeks!

NOMINATED FOR TRI STATE INDIE MUSIC AWARD 2014 Blues/Jazz/Artist Of The Year

"... a project comparable to a major recording artist."
- Belinda Ware - All About Jazz

"One of the Top 13 Albums from 2013" - Jazz Examiner

"Bliss is that album every artist hopes for..."
-Robbie Woliver - NY Music Hall of Fame

" 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 - Jazz Examiner - 5 stars

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

"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

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

"Lili Añel is one of the most exciting contemporary artists around"
– Robbie Woliver, Dir. NY Music Hall of Fame