Pianist | Composer | Producer
NATURALLY
LISA HILTON / PIANO
J.D. ALLEN / SAX, IGMAR THOMAS / TRUMPET, RUDY ROYSTON / DRUMS, LUQUES CURTIS / BASS
Album notes:
The award-winning composer and critically acclaimed pianist once again teams with her renown quintet on eleven hopeful, impressionistic and mesmerizing tracks. Naturally marks Hilton’s thirtieth album and is destined to become another classic in cool jazz… naturally. Featuring Lisa Hilton/piano, JD Allen/tenor sax, Igmar Thomas/trumpet, Rudy Royston/drums and Luques Curtis/bass.
“Creating music that is natural, authentic, and expressive has always been important to me,” Hilton muses, “Now with the advent of A.I. I think this becomes a mandate for artists – it’s imperative to continue creating new work in natural and organic ways despite the ease of digital short cuts. These days multitudes of people feel trapped by cycles of anxiety and stress while feeling pummeled by traumatic news from around the world. Musically we aim to create hope and a ray of sunshine while honestly expressing everyday challenges too. I think listening to musicians with unique skills, playing real instruments can connect with the our global culture in ways that computers or algorithms can never quite match.” Legendary drummer Art Blakely (1919-1990) reflected on the belief in the therapeutic, cleansing, and uplifting power of music when he said, “Jazz washes away the dust of everyday life. “That quote is an apt description for our album Naturally. As musicians, we never yearn for perfection - we want to touch others through honesty, natural beauty and the passion we have for creating and playing music.”
Throughout her career, Hilton has won several awards for her compositions and includes nine originals as well as covers on Naturally. Stand out tracks include the Latin flavored and stunningly impressionistic Carefree Chronicles and Transcendental Tango, along with some traditional jazz tunes such as Nocturnal and Stop & Go Chaotic Show which all highlight the exceptional musical prowess and creative energy of this quintet. Sax man JD Allen and trumpeter Igmar Thomas blend effortlessly with complementary skills and virtuosity, while drummer Rudy Royston and bassist Luques Curtis create a propulsive forward movement with their inventive contributions. Hilton, as always, seduces with melodic simplicity compositional surprises, displaying her fluid soloing on trio tracks such as the ballad I Want To Spend More Than A Moment With You, and paints rich landscapes filled with hope on Scene From A California Dream, Waterlily World and Thinking Of Somewhere Else. Once Upon a Blues Day clearly highlights the distinctive composers voice that Hilton has – combining American blues skillfully with painterly dabs of pop and Beethoven. The beautiful and contemplative tune, Peace
Piece by pianist/composer Bill Evans is presented here as Hilton’s solo piano interpretation in a way that connects with the original improvisatory composition, while highlighting the brilliance of this 1959 composition. The other cover song included is My Favorite Things by Oscar Hammerstine and Richard Rogers. Although a more restrained version than John Coltrane’s recorded versions of this jazz classic, Hilton and her quintet present a thoughtful arrangement here with interesting harmonic ideas and allowing the melodicism of Allen’s deep tenor tones and the clarity of Thomas’s trumpet to be showcased alongside the emotional range of Hilton.
From her Malibu perch, Hilton’s passion for composing and piano performance always permeate her annual contributions to the heritage of cool jazz. Previously home to jazz giants Miles Davis, Horace Silver, Stan Getz, Joe Zawinul as well as Jeremy Pelt this coastal community provides endless inspiration for Hilton while surrounding her as it did for many other jazz heroes, with the natural small town beauty that quite likely, will Naturally will inspire listeners too.
FOR MORE INFO: www.LisaHiltonMusic.com FOLLOW: Lisa Hilton Music on all socials LISTEN: All streaming services
Track List
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Carefree Chronicles
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My Favorite Things
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Nocturnal
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I Want To Spend More Than A Moment With You
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Waterlily World
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Stop & Go Chaotic Show
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Transcendental Tango
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Thinking Of Somewhere Else
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Peace Piece
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Once Upon A Blues Day
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Scene From A California Dream
Q&A
Q & A with Lisa Hilton for their new album entitled naturally - Featuring Lisa Hilton/piano, JD Allen/sax, Igmar Thomas/trumpet, Luques Curtis/bass & Rudy Royston/drums
Q: Let’s start with a question about the title or your latest album – how did the title for Naturally come about?
Lisa Hilton: I feel that nature is one of the few ways we can find relief from anxiety and stress – I don’t believe we’re going to feel better by spending more time online, right? Naturally is filled with hope and beauty is inspired by nature and the life around us. As musicians, our goal is to uplift others through our creativity – hopefully listeners will pick up on that. I’m also someone who enjoys things that are organically home grown, home - made and authentic. Lately with A.I. making everything – even a song - so much faster and easier to create anything -our culture has a greater appreciation for art that is naturally created instead of artificially constructed. Intuitively I think we can feel the difference too, even if we don’t know how the art was created. I work quickly with my band in a way to keep the music fresh, improvisational and emotionally accessible – we never rehearse or over-dub the music. We want it to feel as natural as possible - like jazz should be.
Q: It’s true, the album does feel relaxed and natural – more than say classical music.
LH: Yes! That’s what we wanted. In today’s world most of us are not aiming for a perfect waltz, right? We do want to experience something that feels real though. Our heart yearns for honesty more than it desires perfection. I love the when our band plays impressionistically – that reminds me of Monet’s haystacks or waterlily’s that were painted in a way to give the impression of the light outside, but are not intended to be realistic looking. Especially on the tunes that we recorded: Thinking of Someplace Else, Transcendental Tango, or Scene From A California Dream – our goal is to evoke a mood or feeling with our playing.
Q: Tell us about the two cover songs you have included on this recording.
LH: My Favorite Things was written by Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II and is a composition that is identified most closely in jazz with John Coltrane, who even said he wished he had written it. He recorded it many times in many ways. I chose this song because immigration is such a big issue in our world today, and the film that the music was written for, The Sound of Music told the story of an Austrian family forced to flee from their beloved country - an issue that is also happening today. For our recording, our quintet focused on the melodicism and harmonic ideas of this classic tune. The other cover song I included is the beautiful Piece Peace by pianist/composer Bill Evans which was originally created as an improvisation in the recording studio. I don’t know what he was thinking was when he created it, but I feel that the intention is about keeping your personal peace, despite any dissonant notes in life. The left hand on the piano provides stability to the tune, while the right hand in the treble roams around presenting several improvisational ideas. I wish I had written this one!
Q: Let’s talk about your band mates now and how you work together.
LH: I’ve been playing with the tenor sax player, JD Allen for seventeen years now and drummer Rudy Royston for eleven years and bassist Luques Curtis and trumpeter Igmar Thomas for several years now too. It seems almost magical when we play together.
Q: What do you mean by the word magical?
LH: Recording an entire album in a day like we do is quite a bit of work, but most of that day everyone intuitively and collaboratively creates something better than you could imagine. You have to understand it’s all new music that has never been played before, and then seems to magically take form in ways you didn’t foresee. That does happen when we play live, but we already know the music and have played it before. When it’s all brand new music, the first take can feel like a miracle, but that is the essence of jazz – to co-create in the moment together.
Q: Speaking of playing live, will you be touring in 2027?
LH: Yes – thank you for mentioning that! We will be on tour March 2027 making stops in Chicago, Allentown PA, Carnegie Hall in NYC and I think in Baltimore too.
PRESS
Coming soon.