Hi there!

I’m hoping you might be able to make it out tomorrow night, or perhaps this weekend? I’ll be playing with my trio tomorrow/Thursday, May 16th at Catalina Jazz Club http://www.catalinajazzclub.com/. They are at 6725 Sunset Blvd in Hollywood near Highland. Catalina Jazz Club is the oldest and most famous of all jazz clubs in the entire Los Angeles region. Good food, (I always have the caprese salad), and even covered valet parking. The show is at 8:30pm, but most people come between 7-7:30 for dinner first, or come around 8pm for a drink and a little bite and that gives time to chat with friends, or meet new people. You can get tix online, or call: 323.466.2210. Gregg August is on bass and Jaimeo Brown on drums. They are both terrific musicians I am very excited to play with.

Or…. If you feel in the mood for Vegas, I have heard that the new Smith Center in Las Vegas is one of the nicest performing arts complexes in the US: http://www.thesmithcenter.com/events/ Don’t worry – the shows on Friday May 17 and Saturday May 18, are at 7pm, giving you ample time to go out afterwards too. I’ll be with the same trio there as well.

Any of these shows would be a nice start to the weekend and something a little different to do, while supporting the arts. Hope you can make it, but whatever you do, have a great upcoming weekend!

Lisa

Hi There!
The photo above was taken at Junior Blind of America last week after my annual performance that I do there. The art on the wall was created by the visually impaired students painting to jazz music after their studies during Jazz Appreciation Month/JAM. The students I am pictured with are from JBA, or their after school program that that provides supervision for students from other schools in the nearby Crenshaw district of Los Angeles. We had a great time – I love to perform for these students and their caregivers. Several of the multi- disabled students even danced a little, and then we had refreshments afterwards. I think their art looks great too!

May brings an early fire season to SoCal this year. We’ve been lucky the last few years to have less fires than most other western states, but we might not be as lucky this year after two years of low rainfall. The Camarillo fire – about 30 minutes from Malibu, CA, has burned over 6,000 acres since starting this morning. If you hear in the news that they have evacuated the Cal State Channel Islands University, you might not be aware that the former name of that school was Camarillo State Hospital where jazz greats like Chet Baker and Charlie Parker once went to sober up from their addictions. Parker even wrote, “Relaxin’ at Camarillo” after he was committed there for 6 months for his heroin addiction in the 40′s. Hopefully they will have the fire contained soon.

“Getaway” our new trio CD is doing very well at radio and we thank you! It is currently on the JazzWeek and CMJ charts, with the favorite tracks being Getaway, Just for Fun and Stormy Monday Blues. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT! Host Hugh, “The Hurricane,” Carson put on a two and a half hour “Lisa Hilton Retrospective” and interview April 5th at NPR station, KVNF: http://www.kvnf.org/ It was a real delight to hear again recordings with so many great players over the years: Larry Grenadier and Nasheet Waits of course, but also JD Allen, Christian McBride, Jeremy Pelt, Steve Wilson, Lewis Nash, Brice Winston, Bobby Militello – so many great “sidemen” over the years.

New reviews for Getaway:
“With her power trio Hilton enthralls listeners…..”: Accent on Tampa: http://www.accentontampabay.com/index.htm by Melissa Wolcott Martino
“An entertaining journey…. intriguing, sometimes mesmerizing….” Steve Monroe at JazzAvenues.com
“The interplay between these three virtuoso instrumentalists is impressive….”: Music & Media Focus: http://www.michaeldiamondmusic.com
“Intoxicating…impressive….Hilton always offers at least a few surprises…” Mainly Piano: http://www.mainlypiano.com/2013_Reviews/Hilton-Getaway.html by Kathy Parsons
“A kaleidoscope of color….” MuzikReviews.com by Dana Wright

Lastly, if you can get out to any of the May performances they should be fun: http://lisahiltonmusic.com/tour/
May 16 Catalina Jazz Club/Hollywood Doors open at 7pm/8:30 show with Gregg August/bass and Jaimeo Brown/drums
May 17 and 18 The Smith Center/Las Vegas 7pm. also with Gregg August and Jaimeo Brown

Wishing you a great weekend!

Lisa

Jazz Pianist Lisa Hilton Peforms for the Students of

Junior blind of america

LOS ANGELES (April 23, 2013) - Junior Blind of America, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping children and adults who are blind, visually impaired or multi-disabled achieve independence, hosted critically-acclaimed jazz pianist and composer Lisa Hilton for a special performance for more than one hundred of its visually-impaired students.

Hilton has been bringing music to the visually impaired for over a dozen years and this was the fourth time in recent years that she has generously shared her musical talent with the students and families of Junior Blind.  Hilton’s performance tied in with the agency’s celebration of Jazz Appreciation Month as well as the release of “Getaway,” her 15th CD which features her power trio with Larry Grenadier on bass and Nasheet Waits on drums. Junior Blind was pleased to be one of the early audiences for her new CD, and Ms. Hilton will next be performing selections from “Getaway” on Thursday, May 16 at the Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood.

With what has been described as a “throbbing undercurrent of West Coast Cool,” Hilton has been compared favorably to such diverse pianists as Oscar Peterson, Dave Brubeck and Brad Mehldau, but her sound and touch are completely her own. Since 1997, Hilton has recorded and produced an album a year of her compositions and arrangements for solo piano, trio, and as a leader for her band.  Dubbed a “lioness of jazz” by JazzReview, she works with some of the greatest musicians in jazz today.

“We are always pleased to have Lisa return to our campus to perform. During Jazz Appreciation Month, students in our After School Enrichment Program have been studying Jazz and Jazz musicians, many of whom are blind. Lisa Hilton’s performance was the perfect way to cap off our month-long celebration of Jazz music. She is a dear friend to Junior Blind, and our students always look forward to her special appearances on our campus,” says Jay Allen, Executive Vice President of Junior Blind.  “Music holds such a warm place in the hearts of many of Junior Blind’s children and this was another unforgettable experience for them.”

About Junior Blind

Since 1953, Junior Blind has helped people of all ages who are blind, visually impaired or multi-disabled achieve independence.  Each year, Junior Blind provides services to thousands of individuals and their families through programs that offer innovative and individualized methods of education, recreation, training and rehabilitation.  These life-changing programs are designed to empower infants, children, teens and adults to reach their highest level of potential, independence and self-esteem.  To learn more, please visit www.juniorblind.org.

Tonight there is a Lisa Hilton “Retrospective” in conjunction with the release of “Getaway”, and if you’re home tonight you might like tuning in.  Here’s the info:

7:00 pm MDT

www.kvnf.org

Cookin’ With Jazz

Hugh “Hurricane” Carson

Stream Live: Click on www.kvnf.org or paste into browser (you must have high-speed connection; you can also listen on a SmartPhone) Click on “Listen Live”

Voila. 2.5 hours of LH tonight, featuring Getaway, but running down all the great and varied tunes from Jazz After Hours to present (I won’t allow Getaway to get lost).Plus snippets from the Lisa Hilton interview this week. Tune in, it ought to be fun.

It happens to be my little Italian greyhound Ricky’s 13th birthday today.  He is very fast and a big music lover too.  It also happens to be the first day at radio for our new release, “Getaway”.  A few stations have already started playing it immediately after they received it, like WRTI/Philadelphia, WGMC/Rochester, WSHA/Raleigh, RadioIO/NC, and others.  What a nice way to start!  Over the years the feeling of support from radio has always been very, very cool, and we are very appreciative.  Several nice reviews have appeared last week:  Jeff Simon at Buffalo News: www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/…/1031 . From Top Programmer, Linda Yohn/WEMU:  http://www.wemu.org/term/lisa-hilton. Here’s George Harris at JazzWeekly: http://www.jazzweekly.com/?s=lisa+hilton+getaway , and Chris Spector at the Midwest Record: http://www.midwestrecord.com  – I love his choice of words. You can also listen live this Thursday 4/4 to The Hurricane/Hugh Carson at  www.kvnf.org  3:30 pm MDT for the very first radio interview where I discuss how I compose and behind the scenes in the studio with Larry Grenadier and Nasheet Waits.  I’m also proud to say that we are NPR sponsors for this week and you can see our CD cover on those sites.  In case you missed it, here’s the OFFICIAL “GETAWAY” VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/user/LisaHiltonMusic  featuring my friend, Drake Hogestyn’s ’61 Corvette as my Getaway car.

We were in the studio the last two days of January, so you can imagine how busy it’s been getting so many things done.  I’m very happy with the trio – great playing by Larry Grenadier and Nasheet Waits – truly amazing at times.  I loved working with all my favorite engineers: Al Schmitt, Steve Genewick, James Farber, Larry Mah, Gavin Lurssen and Reuben Cohen.  I think the designer, Aaron Regan did another great job on the cover design- I like the way it looks “old” but new – kinda vintagey cool.  The photos by David Gordon and James Grant came out well – especially since I get nervous for photo shoots, and it snowed too!  Looking back it’s been very fun, lots of work, and hopefully will touch the world as our world has touched my life.  In the meantime, there’s still a little more to do…..

I hope that April is a great month for you!

Lisa

We JUST got the new video up by the young director James Grant up, and I’d love you to take a look and see if you like it. I’m hoping it will surprise you a bit. This is the Official “Getaway” video:

The photo above is with my Italian greyhound, Ricky of course, in my friend Drake Hogestyn’s ’61 Corvette – truly a BEAUTIFUL form of transportation, that is featured in the video. I really like the split screen effects on this video, and it features my power trio with Larry Grenadier on bass and Nasheet Waits on drums. As you can imagine, I have been very busy these last few weeks, finishing the new music and setting everything up for my new release, “Getaway” -it’s my 15th CD! That sure seems like a lot. It will be out April 1st, and I will be touring again then.

Hope you are staying well!

Lisa

At Perkins School for the Blind/Boston.  Photo by David Gordon

Hi there!

I have heard the news reports of the super chill happening in the midwest and east, but I’m not feeling that on the west coast – it has been hot, hot, HOT here!  It’s really lovely, but running the air conditioning in January just seems silly but it’s over 84 degrees inside! Whew!

Had a wonderful birthday – my favorite card was from a hand made card from Junior Blind of America – very sweet for them to send a card to “Miss Lisa”.  I enjoyed family visiting and also a great dinner out in downtown Los Angeles at cool spot Church & State.  Then off to NYC for the Jazz Connect, Winter Jazz Fest and APAP convention.  It was fun to see so many friends and of course tons of music. I really enjoyed my favorite sax man, JD Allen playing with a great drummer, Jaimeo Brown guitarist Chris Sholar – very interesting project at Zinc Bar.  Had my own performance at Steinway Hall, and then caught pianist Fred Hersch with guitarist phenom, Julian Lage right after me.  Steinway Hall is such a beautiful and historic building with a domed main floor -it is a treat just being there.  Had time to squeeze in MOMA, and a nice dinner at Catch NY trying out Top Chef winner Hung Huynh’s signature scallops and cauliflower dish – yummy!

It was great to find out that “American Impressions” is a qualifier for the ZMR awards for 3 categories: Album of the Year, Best Instrumental/Piano, and Best Contemporary Instrumental. How nice!  Please keep me in mind when if you are a voter!

Of course most of my time right now is going into creating new music for a new recording hopefully out in April of this year.  It is always a lot of work, yet really my favorite thing to do.  Please send good wishes our way.  I will be debuting/previewing some of the new music this Sunday, Jan 27th at Vibrato Jazz Grill in West Los Angeles: http://www.vibratogrilljazz.com/calendar/index.php .  This club, created by Herb Alpert, is very beautiful and well laid out for an intimate evening of music and dinner if you choose.  I know it’s not happening until spring, but you might want to plan ahead to go to the recently opened, The Smith Center in Las Vegas: http://www.thesmithcenter.com/events/dates/2013-05-17/  I have heard that this is an amazing new performance venue, so I’m excited to be there Friday and Saturday May 17 & 18 with my trio.  If you haven’t been to Vegas for  while it might be fun to plan ahead and see the new venue, see other shows and just check out what’s new.

Take care and hope the winter weather gets better!

Lisa

Lisa Hilton at Buddy Guy’s Chicago – Photo by Glenn Kaupert

2013 is Officially here and we all got through the end of the Mayan calendar too – I WAS prepared to go out with friends at an E.O.W. party that night, but I’m happy that we made it through.  I like to think the “end” of the Mayan calendar that was prophesied as an “end” to how we have approached life, and that now we are required to interact in a more soulful manner.  (At least that’s my theory.)  Fun reason for a party though!

It has been such a beautiful and warm fall/winter here in SoCal, and I have been able to see so many friends and family over the Holidays.  December to early January is one of my favorite times of the year as we end the year and I begin my personal year right after New Year’s – my birthday is this Saturday, January 5th.  I LIKE birthdays, so I’m excited about another year:  What will happen?  Will the economy pick up? What better habits can I create?  When will my CD be out?   Our world has had such difficulties lately, I hope for everyone that we are entering a more prosperous and safe time again.

I will be at the APAP convention in NYC, and would love to meet if you happen to be there as well.  I will enjoy the Winter Jazz Fest too – as a fan – I love that fest!  PLEASE… if you are in NYC stop by SUNDAY JANUARY 13th AT 1:45pm at STEINWAY HALL: 109 W. 57th Street, NY, NY 10019.  This is a 45 minute showcase and if FREE for APAP attendees, or you can email me to be put on the guest list, (adults only).  I will be debuting new compositions at this solo concert, so it is especially exciting for me.  I’d love to say “hi” to you after of course.  There are a lot of good restaurants in the area since Steinway Hall is right across from Carnegie Hall, so you might want to go out to lunch and then stop by afterwards.  I will be playing an amazing Steinway piano, so the sound should be great.

I will also be back again at the elegant and classy Vibrato Jazz Grill on Sunday January 27th at 7 & 9 pm: 2930 N. Beverly Glen Circle in West Los Angeles: http://www.vibratogrilljazz.com/calendar/index.php .  Vibrato is such a nice venue, I really recommend it – great date night spot.  Book early for dinner, or just hang at the bar.  I will be solo there, and then May 17/18 I’ll be with my trio in Las Vegas at the the beautiful new The Smith Center.  There will be more dates upcoming in April/May as well.  Right now though I am focusing on new music!  Lots of time, but it’s very fun of course.  If you can imagine taking care of twelve new children, you get the idea of how much work it can be to create twelve new tunes or arrangements, (neater though!)  Wish me luck please – hopefully a new CD by April.  If you have a minute, please check out the new website look, and if you can “like” on Facebook – there are new photos posted, or follow on Twitter to stay in touch, ok?

Wishing you an amazing and wonderful year in 2013!

Lisa Hilton

Lisa Hilton and Dave Brubeck in Malibu, CA

Lisa Hilton and Dave Brubeck in Malibu, CA

Hi there,

Just heard about the passing today of the jazz legend/pianist/composer/bandleader, Dave Brubeck just shy of his 92nd birthday which was to be tomorrow, December 6th. God bless him – may he rest with all the other icons who have filled our lives with such great music for decades. It does come right on the heels of the passing of a legend in the making – jazz pianist and young phenom, Austin Peralta – barely 22 years old, and the son of legendary skateboarder and director of such movies as Riding Giants, Stacy Peralta. Austin Peralta passed away November 21- exactly 2 weeks ago. Both were born here in California. Brubeck has had heart problems, but the cause of death for Peralta is not known. Brubeck toured intensely over his many decades in music, often performing “Take Five”, his most famous tune which was written by the sax player in his band, Paul Desmond. I saw Brubeck from backstage at the Newport Jazz Festival not too long ago, but got to meet him and the band in Malibu several times over the years. I saw Austin Peralta at UCLA’s Royce Hall October 25 of this year as he opened for jazz pianist Robert Glasper, vocalist Jose James and freestyler Taylor McFerrin, (son of Bobby McFerrin). The crowd adored Peralta who had recorded with musicians Ron Carter, Billy Kilson, and Marcus Strickland while still in his teens. He seemed to have and to hold such a bright future for jazz. I am sorry to see these two great California born pianists leave this planet.

I am busy with my composing “season” and preparing for upcoming shows in January, while baking Holiday cookies on the side. I’ll be at the historic Steinway Hall NYC on Jan 13th, 2013 at 1:45pm. This is a free concert for those at the APAP convention, or you can email me to be put on the guest list. I’ve just added Vibrato Bar and Grill in West Los Angeles on Sunday, January 27 2013, at 7 &9pm. Also with the band May 17& 18th at the gorgeous new Smith Center in Las Vegas. Hope to see you sometime – I’ll be playing NEW music! These shows are just getting posted on my website so check soon for more in depth info on them.

Take care and hope your Holidays are going well,

Lisa

Lisa Hilton with pianists Alfredo Rodriquez and Aaron Diehl – photo by John Broughton

Hello there!

What a busy season this fall seems to be! I had a great time at the Detroit Jazz Festival at the very end of summer, then a terrific show at Sculler’s Jazz Club in Boston in mid September. I love Beautiful Boston so much, I am hoping to move there! This monday I got to play a new Steinway D at UCLA’s historic Royce Hall – along with Vijay Iyer. Now I’m busy composing new music and then I head out to Chicago 11/1 at Buddy Guy’s, 11/2 at Cornell University, then back in Boston at the Cafe 939′s Red Room on 11/6; election day. I’ll wrap up fall on 11/30 at The Garage in Pittsfield, MA part of the Berkshire’s Theatre group. PLEASE try and come out and say hi if you can, and enjoy the great experience of live music. Currently these are all solo piano shows, but I do plan to get out with the band next year – there are new dates starting to come around now – Las Vegas in May for example at The Smith Center. If you have any favorite club please let me know if you can recommend us to the person who books the venue. The booking season for shows is now through January, so this is the best time to try and set something up. “American Impressions” has done very well this year, btw – thank you! We always appreciate the huge support of our fans and radio too. Hopefully there will be new music soon.

Of course, everyone is excited about, and talking about the election – we’ll see what happens very soon – I’ve enjoyed the debates quite a bit – except when they start talking over each other!

Take care and enjoy this beautiful time of year!

Lisa