Lilli Lewis & the Promised Land Players
New Orleans, LA | Established. Jan 01, 2016
Music
Press
Lilli Lewis's previous albums have shown her prodigious talents working with other musicians and accompanying herself on the piano. But with "Out from Yonder" she cuts away everything except her extraordinary voice, which she layers into complex rhythms and harmonies. With the exception of her astonishing solo rendition of "We Shall Overcome", all the songs on this album feature Lewis accompanying herself, a one-woman vocal group. On some songs, such as the spunky "Mountain Lady Woman", she provides sparkling back-up vocals and spirited rhythms using claps, snaps and mouth sounds. In "Incantation: Creation", Lewis layers her own voice into complex harmonies and rhythms live using a simple looper, resulting in a canon that builds like waves depositing sand on the beach. Lewis's only collaborator on the album is the Tuvan throat singer Robert Elbers on "Incantation: Flame", in which Tibetan Buddhist prayers join with John Coltrane's "Alabama" to create a universal prayer of astounding yearning and beauty. This is the most striking example of the disparate traditions from which Lewis draws, which also include haunting Native harmonies in "Incantation: Earth" and soothing gospel in "A New Name". These varied traditions combine in Lilli Lewis's music to create a profound spiritual offering, a revelation of ineffable truth in sound. Listening to "Out from Yonder", it's easy to forget that it's the work of one person using only her voice and simple percussion. But then, when you have an instrument as versatile as Lilli Lewis's voice, you don't really need anything else. - cdbaby.com
Lilli Lewis’ Out from Yonder can be best described as a misty early morning meditative of soul and gospel, carefully elegant in melody and rich in vocal harmonies.
“Mountain Lady Woman” is Lewis at her best. Breezy acapella and steady clapping backs soulful allegro as she describes a character of rugged femininity. - Scene Magazine
There is a special hush that abounds when the voice of Lilli Lewis hits the air. The classically trained vocalist finds her style of Soul/R&B/Folk & Jazz during her music exposure into a well of rich cultural diversity.
If ever there was a recipe for elegance Lilli has it. The cool vocal control of her velvet sound will alert you in a moment that you are in the presence of something very special.
The CD release of "Silhouette" brings us the songs "Like I love Lovin You" and "Mortal Self" that are absolutely a must hear. We are hooked. eSoundz calls this "Chart material"." - eSoundZ Reporter
"Mapping jazz intonations over...classically trained vocals, Lilli Lewis' songs of affirmation echo with strength and fragility."
- listen.com
"With a sultry voice as smooth as melted butter, Lilli Lewis croons a lush blend of jazz and R&B sensibilities, backed by utterly masterful instrumentation. Sometimes melancholy and always deeply mature, the music...will move you on multiple levels." - Ampcast.com
"Words don't do justice to the music Lilli Lewis creates- a true dichotomy of sound. Vocals that straddle the spectrum from Patti (as in Tuck &...) to Oleta Adams, and music that combines intricate jazz chords and syncopated rhythms most singers would need a month to master. Lewis is the light at the end of the tunnel ...innovative, soulful music [that] will never go out of style." - mp3.com
"Lilli Lewis, a chanteuse, a pianist with one of the widest hearts and deftest touches in songwriting I have ever heard...uniquely poignant and heartfelt..." - Tom Daley, Cambridge MA
Discography
Lilli Lewis & The Promised Land Players:
The Promised Land: Songs of the Sacred South
Also from Lilli Lewis:
Very Small Things
Out From Yonder
Sleepers Wake
The Coming of John
Photos
Bio
Singer/songwriter and composer Lilli Lewis has been tickling the ivories since she was three years old, and composing music for just as long. Raised on a dirt road outside of Athens, GA, the award-winning classical pianist and soprano's early immersion in classical music is now met with blues, folk and soul. Her A Cappella work has won runner-up for Best Folk/World Album in the 2009 Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards, and rendered Lilli a regional finalist for the acclaimed Mountain Stage Newsong Competition.
Lewis has been called a "modern day Renaissance woman," who conjures the likes of Big Mama Thornton, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Odetta. Among her many projects, roots ensemble, The Promised Land Players performs folk and jazz inspired settings of Spirituals from the African-American Folk tradition. With vocals said to have “enough energy to power a large city,” Lewis also brings her similarly inspired original songs of empowerment and personal responsibility to ever widening audiences, never failing to deliver “innovative, soulful music that will never go out of style.”
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