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Le Télégramme
« Je découvre une virtuose qui fait ce qu’elle veut avec son instrument. Elle l’appréhende tantôt comme une basse ou une guitare, tantôt comme une percussion !»
From Sophie Robic’s article, “On a testé… la harpe irlandaise”, Le Télégramme. To read this article (in French), please visit www.letelegramme.com and view archives from 11 August 2007 (11 Août 2007).
The Gazette
“…associating classical music with boredom and advanced age makes about as much sense as associating harp players with fluffy white clouds and angel wings. Just ask Lily Neill, one of Strathmore’s Artists in Residence and a musician who’s had a hankering to be a harpist since she was a toddler […] The key word is passion: as in, Neill is passionate about the harp.”
From Chris Slattery’s article, “Don’t go breaking her harp: Neill at the Mansion”, The Gazette. Please visit www.gazette.net/stories/022107/entenew145802_32322.shtml to read the article in its entirety.
Irish Music Magazine
“Music is a powerful language, the ultimate form of communication is one without words. The concept of music without words heralds an aural communication with the emotions beyond the intellect; where the ears and soul are fed without the hectoring noise, bustle, and bluster so beloved of modern day commercialism. Without Words, the debut album from American born harpist and composer Lily Neill is one of those said occasions when the compositional mind and the interpretative heart come together in harmony. It is a rare moment where music from the Celtic and Classical traditions is welded with Oriental, Jazz, and Rock influences to produce music that while vaguely familiar, is new, fresh, and exciting. ‘Without Words’ is not your standard Celtic Harp CD. It takes a sidelong glance at the Tradition, but boldly embraces new musical horizons.”
From John O’Regan’s article “No Words Just Strings Attached”, Irish Music Magazine, Volume 10. No. 9 June 2005. To read the article in its entirety please visit www.irishmusicmagazine.com.
CD Slamtime
www.LiveIreland.com
www.irishamericannews.com
Google Lily Neill, and you will find magic. The regular reader knows we don't write much about harpists. There are, in our opinion, two seminal harpists working in the tradition. Michelle Mulcahy and Maire ni Chathasaigh. Lily Neill may well be the third. A lot of this album is straight ahead traditional, and it is beautifully played. There are also points where she almost re-invents the harp and what it can do. Look--we're not going to try to explain this. Can't be done in writing. It can only be done in hearing. It is different, special and great. The album is Without Words. You are going to have to get it directly from Lily, so get to her site through Google, and get your copy. If you really love harp---and there are millions who do, this would be a must-have addition. This woman can play!
Rating: Four Harps
- Bill Margeson
Celtic Beat
Without Words could only better be titled Beyond Words. One word for this CD that could be used is exquisite. The quality of Lily Neill's playing is deft and supremely confident.
From the sprightly hornpipe “The Golden Eagle” to one of her own compositions, the modern trad combination with Zan McLeod on guitar “The Silver Heart” this CD will leave you amazed at such combinations in the mind and soul of one artist of tradition and her own innovations. In another of her compositions “The Little Purple Plum Tree” Lily Neill combines her harp with instruments from the east: the jushichigen and koto played by Claudia Clark. And throughout this music goes far beyond simply artistry of execution and aesthetics, for it reaches out and entices you into Lily Neill's world.
One final word: this artist is still a student, just getting started. I will say with confidence hearing this CD that the possibilities are endless with Lily Neill. Beyond that words fail.
- Art Ketchen
The Green Man Review
Washington, D.C. native Lily Neill has paced a lot into her impressive career from appearing with The Chieftains, playing before ex-president Bill Clinton and studying music at the Irish World Music Academy in the University of Limerick in Ireland. Adding to that she is a prodigious composer of tunes with an eclectic taste that crosses from Irish and Scottish musical forms into Classical, Jazz and World music styles. Her debut album Without Words manages to cover all bases impressively. Much of the material contained herein is original and, as befits her interest in classical composition, some border on the epic. ‘Tantivy’ is broken into two parts that are roughly eight minutes in length, while the six minute ‘Neach Neamhshaolta’ includes elements of classical, world, and Irish flavours mixing harmoniously, with the latter including the Chinese Jushichigen and Koto which blend eloquently with the harp. This, along with the pure folk-rock energy in ‘The Silver Heart‘, complete with drums, bass and electric guitar from Zan McLeod, show her versatility. She can handle traditional music equally well as on ‘The Sunflower’ with Mr. McLeod and bodhrán player Jessie Winch adding solid support, or the gorgeous ‘Mna na hEireann’. It is delightful to welcome a new talent and one that is brimming with ideas, creative energy and yet has a vice grips-like hold on traditional methods and methodology, while pushing the envelope stylistically. Without Words is a gorgeous, fascinating and wonderful debut album - it deserves your time.
- John O’Regan
Hot Press
Born in Washington, DC, Lily Neill took up the harp at age nine; five years later she was performing for then-president Bill Clinton and appearing as featured soloist in the premiere of John Cameron’s ‘Missa Celtica’. Now a student at the Irish World Music Centre at the University of Limerick, she brought out her debut album Without Words in the US last autumn and has just released it here.
The CD reveals her to be far more than the superb technician she undoubtedly is: haunting slow airs and sparkling jigs and reels are played with genuine feeling, and there are a number of interesting original compositions, notably the meditative ‘Neach Neamhshaolta’ and ‘The Little Purple Plum Tree’. On the latter, Claudia Clark on the Japanese stringed instruments koto and jushichigen, adds an Eastern flavour. Clark also plays koto on Neill’s delightful pairing of the ancient Scottish tune ’My Ladie Laudians’s Lilt’ with the Irish reel ’The Mountain Lark’. Other guests include violinist Robert Spates, Jesse Winch on bodhrán and frame drum, and guitarist Zan McLeod, who also handled the recording and mixing.
EIGHT/TEN
- Sarah McQuaid
Irish Music Magazine
Harp albums tend to normally follow a pattern of well-worn tunes from a repertoire west of O’Carolan and east of Cornelius Lyons and seasoned traditional pieces. However, a trend is emerging with a wider net cast into the seas of eclecticism. Paul Dooley’s expedition into the Welsh Harp manuscripts is one good exception as is Alison Kinnaird’s latest collection from the Scottish side. Now here is another well-rounded and different addition to the electric canon. A native of Washington DC and starting on the harp at the age of ten, Lily Neill has created a considerable reputation on the U.S. Celtic scene playing the festival circuit and guesting with The Chieftains and the departed Derek Bell in 2001 and 2002. Now ensconced in UL where she is a student of the BA in Traditional Music Performance, her debut album Without Words reveals a considerable talent.
What is most praiseworthy is the amount of self penned material on show added to its wide-angled interpretative lens. ‘Neach Neamhshaolta’ with Japanese Jushichigen and Koto accompaniment hints at an Irish/Oriental crossover, while the Silver Heart uses subtle electric guitar and kit drums in a mild folk-rock exercise. The solo pieces including ‘General Monroe’s’ and ‘The Golden Eagle’ posses regal majesty, while ‘The Sunflower’ suggests a witty hand with original dance tunes. ‘Without Words’ is an invigorating debut which hints at both an active imagination coupled with a rock steady compositional hand - worth investigating.
- John O’Regan
The Irish Edition
Putting On Airs
Long-time readers of this column will also know I have a soft spot for the harp, played solo or in combination with other instruments. There are a lot of harpists out there producing some fine music on a wide array of versions of the instrument and coming from many different cultures. Although Lily Neill is new to me, in some ways she perfectly sums up the reason for my love of this instrument.
Her sound is timeless: one can equally imagine her playing echoing across windswept hills or coming through a dark forest; she conjures pictures of cold, stone castle halls as well as the warmth of a manor house of parlor; yet here is music of a ceili, a concert, or a hooley. This is harp in its fullest, harp at its best.
Neill approaches a variety of Irish and Scottish tunes - some traditional, some contemporary, including a handful of her own compositions - delightfully capturing the essence of the melodies. Zan McLeod (guitar, mandolin, drum kit, bass), Jesse Winch (percussion), Claudia Clark (jushichigen, Koto) and Robert Spates (viola, violin) guest on here and there, each adding an extra depth with their contributions: Spates, string work which ranges in style from the Kronos Quartet to traditional, Clark mixing east and west, the subtle Winch who never overplays, thereby adding more power, and McLeod whose sensitivity to Neill’s playing is outstanding.
Lily Neill’s debut is one that delivers so much and promises even more.- Jamie O’Brien
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