Lili of the Del. Valley

Cuban singer-songwriter comes to Philly and dares to dream.

by A.D. Amorosi

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Published: Jan 10, 2007

folk/jazz

Since moving from New York City to Philadelphia in 1994, Cuban singer-songwriter Lili Añel learned to navigate our lousy narrow streets and recorded her second CD, Dream Again. This golden brown folk-jazzy enterprise is filled with her languid, husky Joan Armatrading-like vocals (with a cover of "Down to Zero"), surrounded by an Eberhard Weber-esque ambience and stroked by the fretless bass fluidity provided by her co-producer, Cooke Harvey. So...

City Paper: You grew up with this seriously rich Latino culture and played in the heart of the ethno-folk movement of New York. Why move here?

Lili Añel: Manhattan's not been that music mecca you mention for a while. Why Philadelphia? I got lucky. I was proposed to by the world's greatest guy and he lived in Philly. I love it here. The side streets are a pain in the ass. And good luck parking without hitting another car.

CP: You're a very tall woman. You think men or other women are intimidated by a tall woman?

LA: People in general, yes, but men more specifically are intimidated. My husband, however, said my height was his main attraction to me. I can't help my height, but I also carry myself "tall." I'm 6 feet. I think I've been this tall since third grade. It's always worked to my advantage.

CP: What were the records your parents had lying around the house that affected you?

LA: My mom played music from our native Cuba. Orquesta Aragón and Patato y Totico — masters of rumba and guaguancó style. Cuban singers like Vicentico Valdez. Frank Sinatra, Mel Tormé, Sarah Vaughn, Billie Holiday. She had a Celia Cruz recording, Homenaje a Los Santos, which featured songs to the deities of the Yoruba tribe of Africa, sung in Lucumi dialect. She played them a lot so they became embedded in my head.

CP: What's your day job?

LA: I supported myself as a full-time musician when signed to a label with my first CD. I know that I will again. For now, I'm proudly a document production technician at a major Philadelphia law firm.

CP: I won't assume Dream is autobiographical. But you sound pretty battered on the romance tip, especially throughout "Over You" and "If." How close a study was this? How recent are the occurrences, if they're yours? Or does all heartbreak equal all heartbreak?

LA: I've learned I can only write about the things I know. These stories? Few are autobiographical; some exaggerated life observations. I depict "immediacy" so listeners can relate readily. "If" is autobiographical. "Over You" was made up, but I know well the feeling of not being able to forget someone. But there's "Dream Again," for example — a hope for not giving up on fill-in-the-blank, and daring to continue. All heartbreak does not equal all heartbreak.

(a_amorosi@citypaper.net)

Lili Añel's Dream Again CD release show, Sat., Jan. 13, 8 p.m., $10, with Nora Whittaker, World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St., 215-222-1400, www.worldcafelive.com.

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