March 11

Hi There!

I hope that you're making it through the last of winter. We've had a bit of rain lately in Malibu. Rainy days are great for being at the piano though, and that's what I've been doing: creating new songs for my next recording session. So how's it coming? Depends on what day you ask! When I first compose a song, I'm in love with it, and it's very exciting. When I record it, I've worked with the composition for months, I believe in it, and am committed to recording it. Right now, when I'm still developing the music, there's a lot of work, time, and thought involved. The best way to describe it is that it either feels like I'm raising 12 kids, or dating 12 people at the same time! There's a LOT to keep track of. Even if the song is essentially written, what speed should it be played at? Is it the right length? What does the music need to communicate, and what is the best way to do it? Then of course I've got to remember a million new notes all at once too, and sometimes that's a challenge. Many recording artist's today come from a background of performance or as a studio musician. Composing is where it all starts for me though, and I love it, but it really is a time for introspection as well. Just me, the piano, and Ricky my little Italian greyhound on a rainy day works perfectly for that. I'm very excited with the new music: the next CD will be great!

It's always fun for me to see what songs I record end up the most popular, so I love to check my iTunes year end reports. The results are in and the top Lisa Hilton tracks downloaded around the world on various internet sites are...(drum roll...) #1 "Seduction/Remix" #2 "So This Is Love", #3 "Thinking of You", #4 "Clearly", the pretty solo piano piece, #5 is probably a tie between "My Favorite Things", and "Alice In Wonderland". and "Take Five" was close runner up. It is the first time that the songs I wrote beat out my arrangements of great composers like Rogers & Hammerstein and Paul Desmond, so I'm pleasantly surprised and happy about that.

A lot of people enjoyed Karl Stober's recent interview for ejazznews so if you missed it here's the link: http://ejazznews.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=5720&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0. If your're interested in more info about the master class/performance I did at Perkins School for the Blind in Boston, click here: http://www.jazzreview.com/article/review-4590.html. My CD, "My Favorite Things" is thankfully, still on one chart after 7 months, and appeared chartbound at JazzWeek last week, so it's nice everyone still enjoys it.

Time to get back to the piano, so take care,

Lisa Hilton