Updated: December 3, 2024
Born: January 5
Laced with a pulsating West Coast cool energy, the award-winning composer and acclaimed pianist Lisa K. Hiltons’, recordings are imbued with subtle historical references from a wide variety of genres and eras, sounding distinctly twenty-first century and uniquely of her own style. Her compositional inspirations do spring from jazz legends Thelonious Monk, Count Basie, Horace Silver and Duke Ellington, but they also include her favorite bluesmen, Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson, touches of minimalism from the likes Steve Reich, rhythmic swatches from modernists such as Prokofiev and Bartok or chords from rockers like The Black Keys or Green Day – they all hold sway in Hilton’s imagination when she composes.
Originally from a small town on California’s central coast, Hilton studied classical and twentieth-century piano formally from the age of eight, where she was inspired by her great uncle, Willem Bloemendall, (1910-1937), a Dutch piano virtuoso. Hilton accompanied on the piano for her grammar school glee club starting in third grade, later joining orchestra and band on flute, and performed piano scores for high school musicals.
In college though, due to the lack of creativity in the music program, she dropped out, switching majors and receiving a degree in art instead. Since becoming a professional musician though, this background in the arts has informed Hilton’s composition process noting that she “paints” her compositions with harmonic washes and then “sculpts” them with textural and rhythmic ideas. In the book, The New Face of Jazz, by Cicily Janus (with an introduction by jazz legend, Wynton Marsalis and an afterword by jazz icon, Sonny Rollins), Janus notes that Hilton has been “compared to some of the best pianists in history”–comparisons are often made to the legendary Bill Evans and Dave Brubeck, but Hilton’s compositions are also considered to be reminiscent of musical impressionists such as Claude Debussy and Erik Satie.
Hilton has performed at venues across the US from the legendary Carnegie Hall to Chicago’s historic Green Mill and is known her expressive technique at the piano as well as for her warmth and storytelling on stage. Over a career that has lasted several years, Hilton has worked with many of todays’ living jazz legends such as JD Allen, Rudy Royston, Larry Grenadier, Terell Stafford, Christian McBride, Sean Jones, Billy Hart, Marcus Gilmore, Nasheet Waits and others. Her latest recording, OASIS was recorded with Luques Curtis on bass and Mark Whitfield Jr. on drums. With her high-profile band mates Rudy Royston, Luques Curtis and Igmar Thomas, Hilton continues producing an album a year through her publishing company, Lisa Hilton Music. Her deep catalog of compositions is now nearing 300 recorded tracks – and her releases annually receiving strong support from radio, millions of streams and acclaim from critics around the world.
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Lisa Hilton: Lucky All Along
by Mike Jurkovic
Throughout the course of her quietly triumphant, just south-of-the-spotlight, virtuoso career, pianist/composer Lisa Hilton has never actively pursued, Captain Ahab-like, the biggest fish in the sea. She has played alongside many of the biggies--Christian McBride, Antonio Sanchez, Nasheet Waits, Sean Jones, JD Allen--but finds the greatest comfort, harmony, and camaraderie among her long-standing rhythm mates: bassist Luques Curtis, drummer Rudy Royston and, for their third quartet recording, trumpeter Igmar Thomas. Hilton does a lot of pretty things with a simple Latin sway ...
Continue ReadingLisa Hilton: Lucky All Along
by Neil Duggan
Another Lisa Hilton album, and for many the world seems a better place. Lucky All Along is the pianist's 30th release, proving that it can take a long time to be considered a jazz success story. Her blend of jazz, Latin, pop and blues means she counts the number of plays on streaming services in the millions and her albums bother the top of those charts which count radio plays and numbers of downloads. She is not considered particularly hip ...
Continue ReadingLisa Hilton: California-Based Jazz Pianist, Composer, Bandleader & Producer
by Doug Hall
On this show we chat with pianist Lisa Hilton who has been recording and performing as a bandleader with quartet arrangements continually for over 25-plus albums, beginning with Seduction released in 1997, up to her most recent recording Coincidental Moment which we will play portions of for this podcast. ...
Continue ReadingLisa Hilton: Coincidental Moment
by Mike Jurkovic
As good as Coincidental Moment is, there is an uncharacteristic sense of sameness infused in many of these bossa blues. As she notes in the liners, lauded and long-trusted pianist Lisa Hilton intended the music to illuminate the cool energies and history of jazz while relating to these hair-shirt times in which we find ourselves privileged to listen to her music . But perhaps it crossed some invisible line where what has been accepted as gospel from Hilton--her ...
Continue ReadingLisa Hilton: Paradise Cove
by Lisa Hilton
"I think we all need jazz in our lives these days. From its inception, jazz and blues were created to boost moods or morale by America's earliest composers, such as Scott Joplin, Ferdinand Jelly Roll Morton, and Nick La Rocca around the beginning of the 1900s. The music on Paradise Cove was composed and created to refresh and reboot our collective spirits and inspire all to create a personal “cove" or protected “paradise" for our well-being. Our world desires and ...
Continue ReadingTake Five With Lisa Hilton, Revisited
by AAJ Staff
Meet Lisa Hilton Lisa Kristine Hilton is a composer, pianist, producer and bandleader. Growing up on California's beautiful central coast, Hilton was so entranced with the piano that she taught herself to play with a colored keyboard guide and composed simple songs before beginning piano lessons. Attending college in San Francisco, she missed the creativity she had previously experienced in music, so she switched majors, graduating with a degree in art. When Hilton returned to the piano, she remained driven by the ...
Continue ReadingLisa Hilton: Paradise Cove
by Mike Jurkovic
At a time in our collective consciousness when it appears nothing is functioning as it once did, or is as reliable as it once was, or gives us purpose and solace as we once knew, along comes the soft sustaining magic of Lisa Hilton's gorgeous new recording, Paradise Cove, and for all of its enchanting forty-five minutes all is right with the world again. Hilton may not have the wild chops of many of her peers or the ...
Continue ReadingLisa Hilton's New Album: Captivating, Cool, Impressionistic And Uplifting
Source:
DL Media
“Imagine the peaks we could climb if everyone listening to Hilton or reading this played so well together. Truth be told, Lucky All Along could be as close to a greatest hits album Hilton, or any of us, will ever get….very attainable, very welcome, very deserved.” —Mike Jurkovic, All About Jazz “A captivating blend of cool Jazz and impressionist-inspired compositions... Lucky All Along merges diverse jazz styles with impressionistic textures, making it a deeply emotive and innovative release.” —Jazz Sketches ...
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The Lisa Hilton Quartet Masters The Moment With Eloquence And Inspiration on 'Coincidental Moment'
Source:
DL Media
The Lisa Hilton Quartet Masters the Moment With the Eloquent New Release: Coincidental Moment Featuring Trumpeter Igmar Thomas, Bassist Luques Curtis & Drummer Rudy Royston “I love the way jazz tugs at our emotions in a way no other music can: it can calmly seduce your soul or prompt you to dance," states the award-winning composer and acclaimed pianist Lisa Hilton in the liner notes for her latest release, Coincidental Moment (Ruby Slippers Productions 1029), out December 1, 2023. “The ...
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Pianist Lisa Hilton Debuts New Dynamic Quartet on 'Paradise Cove'
Source:
All About Jazz
“I think we all need jazz in our lives these days,” composer, pianist, bandleader and producer Lisa K. Hilton writes in the liner notes for her 26th release, Paradise Cove (Ruby Slipper Productions). “From its inception ragtime, jazz and blues were created to boost moods or morale by America’s earliest composers, such as Scott Joplin, Ferdinand “Jelly Rolly” Morton or Nick La Rocca in the early 1900’s. Our world today desires and deserves a lift after the last couple years, ...
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Lisa Hilton Celebrates Optimism In 'Life Is Beautiful' With Luques Curtis & Rudy Royston
Source:
DL Media
Lisa Hilton and her trio, manifest a memorable experience on Life Is Beautiful, her third recording of the pandemic era, and the acclaimed pianist, composer, and producer’s twenty-fifth album as a leader. On it, Hilton indulges her love of the piano with ten original tracks and the cover gem, “Ernie’s Blues," (written by Ernie Wilkins). Backed by her ever-excellent band mates: Rudy Royston on drums and Luques Curtis on bass, Hilton’s elegantly swinging piano and engaging compositions encompass a range ...
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Lisa Hilton and her Trio with Rudy Royston and Luques Curtis Masterfully Blend Traditions in an Inspiring New Recording 'Transparent Sky'
Source:
All About Jazz
Available September 3 | Pre-Order Today As America and other countries re-emerge from the limitations of 2020, Lisa Hilton and her trio with Rudy Royston and Luques Curtis, enthusiastically embrace the moment with a vibrant new jazz offering titled Transparent Sky, that will inspire, uplift and motivate us all. Rich with glorious harmonies and unique compositions, Hilton’s swinging band radiates a sun bleached aura to listeners. Throughout the album Hilton, Royston and Curtis develop a surprisingly wide range of rhythmic ...
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Pianist Lisa Hilton Releases More Than Another Day with Rudy Royston and Luques Curtis on Ruby Slippers Productions
Source:
All About Jazz
More Than Another Day (Ruby Slippers Productions) is the latest release from composer / pianist / producer, Lisa Hilton. Hilton and her longstanding band mates: Rudy Royston on drums, and Luques Curtis on bass, as well as JD Allen on tenor saxophone, had just finished the first half of their tour for their 2020 album, Chalkboard Destiny, when the corona virus forced a shut down of the tour, and of course a lockdown in the U.S. Grounded and worried for ...
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Lisa Hilton Redefines Her Path With Latest Album 'Chalkboard Destiny' Available December 6th
Source:
DL Media
“My favorite album we’ve worked on in there’s a lot of great music!” —Al Schmitt, 23-time Grammy winning engineer “We live in an exciting time of constant change…” is the introductory quote from the award winning composer, and acclaimed pianist Lisa Hilton, in her liner notes for her latest release Chalkboard Destiny—recorded with jazz luminaries JD Allen on tenor saxophone, Rudy Royston on drums and Luques Curtis on bass. It’s an appropriate prelude for an album that unfolds with the ...
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Lisa Hilton Sets Forth On A Journey Promoting Peace, Tranquility and Positive Energy with "Escapism" - Available December 1 on Ruby Slippers Productions
Source:
Lisa Hilton
Lisa Hilton often settles in at her piano and riffs on everyone from Miles Davis and Horace Silver to The Black Keys and Green Day, until she can find peace within the notes, letting them fill the room and fall where they languish in this glow of calm with a touch of brooding blues. Then this past year, the world changed a bit and finding that calm seemed a little more elusive. “Everything is charged with politics, a large portion ...
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Pianst Lisa Hilton Release "Day & Night" on Ruby Slippers Productions
Source:
All About Jazz
Nineteen albums in, after working with the top-drawer jazz masters, like Antonio Sanchez, Christian McBride, Nasheet Waits, Sean Jones, Marcus Gilmore, Steve Wilson, Jeremy Pelt, Lewis Nash, Billy Hart, Larry Grenadier, Rudy Royston, and Bobby Militello, among others, LISA HILTON strips her music down to the essentials and returns to the solo format with Day & Night to be released on the Ruby Slippers Productions label (#1021) with a street date of December 16 th 2016 and heading to radio ...
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Enter the "Lisa Hilton - Getaway" Giveaway at All About Jazz!
Source:
All About Jazz
All About Jazz members are invited to enter the “Lisa Hilton - Getaway“ giveaway contest starting today. We'll select FIVE winners at the conclusion of the contest on May 5th. Click here to enter the contest
(Becoming a fan of Lisa Hilton at AAJ automatically enters you in the contest.)
Good luck! About Getaway
Getaway is Hilton's 15th release as a leader, showcasing her compositions and agile piano in a Power Trio with longtime band mate and bass icon, Larry ...
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“Lisa Hilton’s most charming and beguiling CD to date.” —Linda Yohn/WEMU
“Smoking, cooking stuff … one winning wild ride.” — Chris Spector/The Midwest Record
“A wonderful melding of musical worlds.” —George Harris/JazzWeekly
“One of the major voices in the modern jazz community, ” —The Jazz Messenger
“A true original at the top of her game.” —All About Jazz
"A Lioness of Jazz" Jazz Review
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