Lisa Hilton Music

Musician Bios:

Lisa Hilton / Bio

Lisa Hilton is a composer/pianist/bandleader/producer who has been hailed as "One of the major voices in the modern jazz community" (The Jazz Messenger) and is compared to some of the best pianists in history in the book The New Face of Jazz for what Down Beat magazine recently noted: "Hilton clearly has a musical voice." Hilton is especially recognized for her expressive and impressionistic approach at the keyboard. Although she has been compared to such diverse musicians as Brad Mehldau, Dave Brubeck, Oscar Peterson, Thelonious Monk, Erik Satie and even Debussy, Hilton is cited as, "A rarity that she displays a truly original voice," (The Jazz Messenger). Her compositions are exciting: rich in musical heritage, blues inflections, intelligent use of harmonic and rhythmic textures and imbued with warmth, beauty and soul. "I appreciate traditional jazz, but I am not a traditionalist, " Hilton explains, "As a composer I admire the compositions of Miles Davis, Jelly Roll Morton, Duke Ellington and Muddy Waters, and I do reference them in a style that represents our cultural desire today to embrace our past. I also choose to be moving forward though in jazz and create new musical approaches". The result is a fresh sound that is evocative, intelligent, engaging and redirecting jazz into the twentyfirst century. Dubbed by JazzReview a "Lioness of Jazz", Hilton continually works with some of the greatest jazz musicians today: Christian McBride, Nasheet Waits, J. D. Allen, , Larry Grenadier, Lewis Nash, Bobby Militello, Jeremy Pelt, Brice Winston, Rudy Royston, Jaimeo Brown, Ameen Saleem and Steve Wilson. She produces an album a year of her own compositions and arrangements, now totaling thirteen stateside CD's and over 160+ tracks on iTunes. Hiltons' music continues to receive critical acclaim, honors, awards and also longevity in radio airplay in the US, Canada and around the world.

Lisa Kristine Hilton was born in San Luis Obispo, a small Southern California town, into a very musical family. Passionate about the piano from a young age, she was later inspired by stories of her great uncle, Willem Bloemendaal (1910-1937 Vlaardingen, Netherlands), a young Dutch piano virtuoso. Hilton began the formal study of classical and twentieth century piano literature beginning at eight, and later began playing Standards, jazz and blues along with Bartok and Beethoven. Most teens would probably opt for rock concerts, but the first live show Hilton saw was the classic blues duo Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee. "They seemed really old, and very cool by my teenage standards. I was also a big B.B. King fan in those days too." Her interest in the expressive capabilities of music was soon to be challenged: at college in San Francisco, Hilton studied with a renowned classical pianist but became disillusioned with the conservative teaching methods, so she switched her studies, and graduated with a degree in Art. After many years, Hilton returned to the piano in 1997, and continued some coursework at UCLA. Hilton says that her passions for music and art are now combined: “Music is an art. You need to know instinctually what to do beyond studying technique and theory.”

The difficulties she experienced with her own music education has led Hilton to support music programs for children and teens, especially for those that serve the blind or the visually impaired. She has performed benefit concerts for Helen Keller's alma mater, Perkins School for the Blind, (near Boston/2006, 2007, 2011), The Chicago Lighthouse for People Who are Blind or Visually Impaired, (2008, 2009, 2010), The Junior Blind of America, (Los Angeles/2010, 2011), Camp Bloomfield for those that are visually impaired, (Malibu/1998, 1999) and ArtsReach (2000/Malibu, CA). She has written about these experiences for Jazziz and Jazz Times Magazines.

Hilton now lives in Malibu, California and her compositions draw inspiration from other West Coast musical luminaries and one time Malibu residents such as Miles Davis, Stan Getz, Horace Silver, and her friend, the late Joe Zawinul. Besides composing, performing, recording, and producing, Hilton has authored a popular children's book, and is currently working on a book on musicianship.

Radio: Hilton’s music is played on hundreds of radio stations in the U.S., Canada and around the world, and has been featured prominently on shows like NPR’s Morning Edition, various airlines and XM. Broadly appealing to all ages, Hilton’s albums appeared on many radio charts such as JazzWeek, CMJ, and Earshot Jazz/Canada.

Television: Hilton has been featured on CBS/Boston and WGN/Chicago.

Written Word: A published author, Lisa Hilton has also written for Jazz Times and Jazziz magazine. She is currently working on a book about musicianship, and appears in the Random House book, “The New Face of Jazz”, by Cicily Janus. She has had a music blog on her website since 2001.

Favorite jazz pianists: Brad Mehldau, McCoy Tyner.

Musical influences: Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk

Pianos: "Underground," "Nuance", "The New York Sessions" and "Twilight & Blues" were recorded on a Hamburg Steinway provided by Steinway & Sons, NY at Avatar Studios. “Sunny Day Theory” and “Midnight In Manhattan” were recorded on a Hamburg Steinway provided by Fields Pianos, Los Angeles. Hilton’s practice piano is a Steinway B.

Lewis Nash: Drums
Lewis Nash is consistently on Downbeat Magazine's critic's choice awards and has performed with Stan Getz, Art Farmer, Clark Terry and Milt Jackson. His impressive discography (over 300 recordings) includes projects with jazz legends Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson, Benny Carter, Hank Jones, and John Lewis, as well as new jazz stars Diana Krall, Joe Lovano and Roy Hargrove. Demonstrating his stylistic diversity, Nash is also featured on recordings by Natalie Cole, Bette Midler, Nancy Wilson, Kenny Rankin, Melissa Manchester and George Michael. His lectures, clinics and workshops are as much in demand as his bandstand and studio work. http://www.lewisnash.com/

Larry Grenadier: Bass
Bassist Larry Grenadier, a DownBeat Critics's choice winner, tours extensively with Brad Mehldau, but also has recorded with Chris Potter, Joshua Redman, Pat Metheny, and Chick Corea and others, as well as his band Fly with Glen Ballard and Mark Turner. http://flytrio.com/

Nasheet Waits: Drums
An exceptionally creative drummer and DownBeat Award winner, Greenwich Village based Waits is the son of drummer Freddie Waits and is known for his work with jazz artists Jason Moran, Kurt Rosenwinkel, John Escreet, Fred Hersch and the late Andrew Hill. www.nasheetwaits.com

Jeremy Pelt: Trumpet
Berklee grad and DownBeat Critic's Choice Winner, Jeremy Pelt has appeared the last five years as a DownBeat Rising Star trumpeter, and received the attention of Nat Hentoff in an extensive Wall Street Journal article. Pelt is a leader of his own band, but also has performed with others such as Nancy Wilson, Cedar Walton, and Ravi Coltrane. http://www.peltjazz.com/

J.D. Allen: Tenor Saxophone
Detroit native and tenor saxman and DownBeat Critic's Choice Award winner, J. D. Allen has toured and played with Cindy Blackman, Betty Carter, Ron Carter, Dave Douglas and Jack DeJohnette to name a few. His CD placed on the Village Vanguard critic's choice poll for Album of the year 2008, as well as top 10 album of the year at Jazzwise and Top 50 CD's for Jazz Times for 2008. http://www.myspace.com/jdallen11

Brice Winston: Saxophone
Saxophonist Brice Winston has been spending the last several years touring with trumpeter Terence Blanchard's band, honing his skills with some of the most cutting edge young musicians on the jazz scene today, from drummer Eric Harland, guitarist Lionel Loueke and the Nicholas Payton Quintet. His time with Terence has brought playing experiences with some of the jazz greats like Herbie Hancock, Slide Hampton, John Faddis, Marcus Miller, and Cassandra Wilson, among others, and he has performed on a dozen movie scores. Brice attended the University of New Orleans under the direction of Ellis Marsalis. Brice is currently back in his hometown of Tucson, AZ, teaching a community jazz program called Jazzwerx, while continuing to tour with Terence Blanchard. www.bricewinston.com/

Christian McBride: Bass
Grammy Award and DownBeat Poll winner Christian McBride, virtuoso of the acoustic and electric bass graduated from Julliard. Beginning in 1989, the Philadelphian has thus far been first-call-requested to accompany literally hundreds of fine artists, ranging in an impressive array from McCoy Tyner and Sting to Kathleen Battle and Diana Krall. He currently leads one of the hottest bands in music - the propulsive Christian McBride Band (saxophonist Ron Blake, keyboardist Geoffrey Keezer and drummer Terreon Gully). http://www.christianmcbride.com/

Steve Wilson: Alto and Soprano Saxophone
A musician's musician, Wilson had been documented on over 100 recording with the likes of Chick Corea, Dave Holland, Dianne Reeves, and Billy Childs. Wilson has six recordings under his own name. http://www.stevewilsonmusic.com/

Bobby Militello: Sax
Bobby is well known to jazz fans for his many years of working with the master himself, Dave Brubeck. With over one hundred recordings he has played on to his name, the New Yorker also spent two years on the Tonight Show with Doc Severinson. www.bobbymilitello.com

Reggie McBride: Bass
Reggie McBride was going to go to Berklee School of Music on scholarship before he was recuited to do a Stevie Wonder recording. He is originally from Detroit. His background is more blues-oriented, and he has worked on major recordings for B.B. King, Elton John, Al Jarreau, Rod Stewart, and current Billboard chart topper, Keb Mo. He plays acoustic and electric bass, and lives in North San Diego County. http://reggiemcbride.com/

Tal Bergman: Percussion
Tal Bergman was born in Israel, studied classical drumming, and moved to New York at age 20. Tal has worked in every genre of music as well as written scores for several mainstream movies. He has toured and played with musicians in many genres... rock: The Offspring, Billy Idol; jazz: Chris Botti and icon Joe Zawinul; pop: Rod Steward; urban: L.L. Cool J; and classical crossover: Loreena McKennitt.