Shelley Neill was a child of a Hungarian father and Irish Catholic mother. She was born in Newark’s culturally rich Ironbound neighborhood in New Jersey, in the 1950’s. As an infant, she was adopted into a Jewish family who had lived and grown up in Newark. She considers herself “a Newark child.” Newark’s neighborhoods began to unravel in the 1960’s. Jewish and Italian families left and African-American families moved into their place. Her family moved to New Jersey’s suburbs. Newark was a blaze by the 1960’s. People who were once filled with hope, now feel fearful or angry. Music was a big part of her life. Every day began and ended with WNJR Radio in Newark. She grew to enjoy the sounds of Dionne warwick, Martha and Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, and Martha and the Vandelas. Janis Joplin, Sly and the Family Stone and Wes Montgomery followed by Bill Evans, Aretha Franklin and Oliver Messian. She also became interested in neoclassical music – Igor Stravinsky and Oliver Messian. Billie was introduced to her by Great Aunt Rose who was a Bronx teacher and loved Jazz music and singers. She fell in love with music, and later felt the joy of singing a song. After moving to Boston in 1969, she had an inconsistent relationship with music. In the 1980’s she started singing again in Boston and began to perform in public. She started taking trips out of the country and began researching a Jazz and Blues Trilogy project. The Blues Runs Though It was her first CD. It explored the influence of Blues on Jazz through the eyes of a singer. Envisioning Blue was her second CD. The third and final CD in the series, entree Blue, followed by Envisioning Blue took her on a musical adventure that began with Robert Johnson in 1915 and ended with Miles Davis at the 1960’s. Photo by Caitlin Obrien – CD release, Multicultural Arts Center, October 1, 2014. It was five years before her next recording project, Irish Eyes Gypsy Soul. It includes many aspects of her personal, musical, and emotional history. She said, “It’s how I see the world through my Irish Eyes and with my Gypsy Soul.” The song is a tribute and re-composition of familiar songs by Neill and her recording partners Laszlo Garcia, ron Mahdi, and Yoron Israeli. It brought together her diverse interests and background, including R.
