Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
"Relaxed and amiable...Neill displayed a style that straddles the jazz and blues tradtitions...She's got a well of talent and puts on a great show. Serious blues overtones...she doesn't improvise so much as she interprets, which suits her distinctive voice." - Steve Greenlee
"Don't be fooled by Shelley Neill's conservative Bostonian roots or her Melanie Griffith blondeness. Beneath those sunny curls is a head for the blues and a torch-singer sensibility...and if you thought Etta James was the only one who could quicken your pulse with a scorching "At Last," get set for a version so vigorous it could steam up the windows of Beacon Hill's frostiest mansions." - Chritopher Loudon
"Shelley Neill has such a naturally distinctive voice, one that etches her signature with indelible ink on each tune she sings, that one is directed away from the song itself and toward the qualities that shape her delivery. Sliding over and bending blue-noted tones as did the blues singers, Neill's interpretations emphasize the indeterminacy of pitch, even when you think it has been resolved, rather like a tuning fork..Neill's attraction to the blues attains a steadfast, uncommon integrity." - Bill Donaldson
Discography
entree blue is available on www.amazon.com and www.cdbaby.com and can be sampled on cdbaby.com. It has been added to radio play lists across the country.
Her previous recordings include Envisioning Blue (available on cdbaby.com) and The Blues Runs Through It (available on amazon.com).
All of her CDs have received unprecidented airplay for an independent label. She has been interviewed on WGBH (Boston), WBGO (Newark), WICN (Worchester),WWOZ (New Orleans), WOMR (Provincetown) and other jazz radio stations
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Vocalist Shelley Neill has been described in JazzTimes as follows "..she has a head for the blues and a torch-singer sensibility..." Her talented rhythm section includes Sunnyside recording artist/pianist Laszlo Gardony, drummer Yoron Israel, and Ron Mahdi on bass.
Neill has a distinctive voice, and an ability to consistantly choose material that both defines and supports her one-of-a-kind delivery.
Her choice of unusual rhythm shifts and her finely honed interperative vocal approach to the music mark a new stage in her musical development. Where her previous CDs captured the essence of the jazz and blues singers that came before her, her new CD entree blue clearly defines her own musical style - original.
She and her band have performed at The RegattaBar, Scullers, Ryles and other venues and participated at special events and festivals including: Steppin' Out, Cambridge River Festival, Boston Jazz Society Summer Concert.
Links
