JD Allen Archives - Lisa Hilton Music

THANK YOU TO RADIO EVERYWHERE!

February 9, 2016 by Lisa Hilton

#AntonioSanchez, Carnegie Hall, composer, Gregg August, Ingrid Jensen, jazz, jazz and piano, JazzWeek, JD Allen, Junior Blind of America, lisa hilton, Pepperdine University, piano, Rockwood Music Hall, Rudy Royston, SFJazz, Terell Stafford

Hi There!
Did you enjoy the SuperBowl? I think it’s always more fun to have a closer game – like last year, but the weather in California was spectacular for a February day and I liked GaGa’s arrangement of our anthem too.
Here’s a photo from NYC last month with JD Allen on tenor sax, Ben Williams on bass, Ingrid Jensen on trumpet and Rudy Royston on drums at Carnegie Hall. We had a great time! We had the same band last year but we were lucky to have Ben Williams join us – he’s just terrific and so nice too. Love those acoustics and my big Steinway at Carnegie!

Well Thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU radio stations EVERYWHERE for playing NOCTURNAL. Just 2 weeks after our Jan. 22nd release date, we are #20 on the JazzWeek radio chart and being played around the world. We have deep appreciation for this. There is a lot of music out there – mostly from larger labels, so it is a great vote of support to Antonio Sanchez, JD Allen, Gregg August, Terell Stafford and myself that the music is connecting so well. As artists, a lot of our creative work is done in relative isolation and then 6-12 months later you find out if anyone likes what you do, (no instant gratification!), so this has been great news. Stations that we know are playing NOCTURNAL our first couple weeks are listed here (did I miss anyone?) – as well as my Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LisaHiltonMusic. I just got this not from Russ Davis at MOJA RADIO/VOICE OF AMERICA: “You can add the 134 million people who hear JAZZ AMERICA on Voice of America as Nocturnal will be featured with our interview this coming Valentine’s Day weekend!” www.mojaradio.com – WOW! You can also listen here too:

WAER/NY, WBGU/OH, WBLU/WBLV/MI, WCLK/GA, WDNA/FL, WECI/IN, WERU/ME, WFCR/MA, WFMT/CA, WFDU/Jazz& What’s more/NJ, WGMC/NY, WGVU/MI, WHRV/VA, IL, WJSU/MS, WLRN/FL, WNCU/NC, WNMU/MI, WPFW/DC, WPPB/NJ, WQSU/PA, WRIR/VA, WRTI/PA, WSHA/NC, WSNC/WSSU/NC, WTJU/VA, WUEV/IN, WUMR/TN, WWOZ/LA, WWSP/WI, WWUH/CT, WXPN/PA, WYCE/MI, KANU/KANH/KANV/KS, KBEM/MN, KCBX/CA, KCCK/IA, KCSB/CA, KCSM/CA, KEWU/WA, KIOS/NE, KKRN/KWMR/CA, KKUP/CA, KMBH/KMHD/TX, KNTU/TX, KRFC/CO, KSDS/CA, KSJS/KSJD/CA, KTEP/online, KTSU/TX, KUSD/SD, KUVO/KVJX/CO, KUTX/TX, KVNF/KUMT/CO, KXPR/KYJZ/CA, KYGT/CO, 2MaxFm/Australia, ClassicFm/Abu Dhabi, All Jazz Radio/South Africa, AnimaJazz/Italy, Apple Music, Echoes/syndicated, Hawaii Public Radio/HI, Jazz After Hours/syndicated, Jazz from Gallery 41/CA,JazzHappeningNow/syndicated, IO Radio/UK, M3Radio/NY, MOJARadio/syndicated, No Solo Jazz/Spain, Otras Musicas/Spain, Peaceful Radio/Netherlands, Radio Despi/Spain, Radio Jazz/Uruguay, PRX Jazz/syndicated, Radio Swiss Jazz/Switzerland, Radio Valencia/CA, RadioVideoJazz/online, Rhapsody, RTVA/Spain, Soul&Jazz/UK, Spotify, Taint Radio/syndicated, Toppy Jazz/Netherlands, Radio Rick/Netherlands, BO FM/Canada, RLI/Madagascar, JazzCoRadio/Australia, Radio 794/Netherlands, Spectrum Jazz/online, CIWS/Canada, 2RRfm/Australia, Solar Radio/UK, Pacific Jazz, Canoefm/Canada, CFRO/Canada, CUIT/Canada, BBC Radio Stoke/UK, Scotland69fm/UK, 2NVR Australia, O’s Place Jazz, Output Radio/Netherlands, Style Quarterly Radio/online, West Gippsland Community Radio/Australia, …. Thank you all!

-MARCH 4th/Friday/Smothers Hall Pepperdine University/Malibu, CA 8pm 4255 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu/   https://pepperdinearts.ticketforce.com/eventperformances.asp?evt=132
-MARCH 10th/Thursday /Junior Blind of America, Los Angeles 4pm Performance for special needs students: 5300 Angeles Vista Blvd. L.A. www.JuniorBlind.org
-MARCH 12th/Saturday/Classic Pianos Portland, 3:30pm www.PortlandClassicPianos.net/events       http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2495400
-MARCH 24th/Thursday/ SFJazz: https://www.sfjazz.org/events-calendar
-APRIL 10th/Sunday/Rockwood Music Hall/NYC 8:30pm: http://www.rockwoodmusichall.com/   https://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/1090601
Hope you can come out to one of the performances for NOCTURNAL – see ya there!

Lisa

January 22, 2016 by Lisa Hilton

Blog, Lisa Hilton

Antonio Sanchez, Carnegie Hall, composer, Duke Ellington, jazz, jazz and piano, JD Allen, lisa hilton, New Release, NOCTURNAL, piano, piano jazz, reviews, Terell Stafford

Happy January 22nd – our Official Release Day!

We are very excited today! For us the release of NOCTURNAL represents months of creative passion, HOURS of rapt attention to detail, and two days of recording bliss. Truly the best band ever: Antonio Sanchez on drums (well known for his Birdman score), once again the deep Detroit tenor sax sound of JD Allen and the Julliard trained Gregg August on bass, and the addition of the virtuosic Terell Stafford on trumpet, as well as my piano too. After seventeen albums of compositions, I decided on my eighteenth to dig for more emotional depth and length on some tunes too, and I ended up enjoying the composing time more than ever. We’re proud of how it came out and we hope the world enjoys it. We’ve gotten a few early reviews:
-“SIMPLY PHENOMENAL.” KVNF Radio
–“Traditional modern jazz is represented by a contemporary style, and newly recorded by the long-awaited quintet of Lisa Hilton. Antonio Sanchez on drums, in front of JD Allen tenor, along with the wonderful trumpet of Terrell Stafford, and Gregg August on bass – mainly original songs with a fresh melodic beauty – her piano it’s great”. HMV.com
– “A collection of hard-hitting originals… her strongest outing yet.” George Harris/JazzWeekly
– “No one plays, writes or puts together a band better than this great, talented lady! NOCTURNAL is another in a growing list of deep excellent works from Hilton.” Russ Davis/Voice of America
– “Lisa Hilton has done a remarkable job.” The New York Jazz City Record
-“Highly anticipated….” New York Cool
– “What a wonderful album.” Exploring Jazz/WUNH
–“Speaks subtly of Satie and sublimely of Ellington…. Hilton has put together the right band and chosen the right repertoire to demonstrate her treasure trove of musical influences….” About.com
-“Remarkable emotional depth and clarity from all band members…” World Jazz News
-“Hilton’s compositions and melodies bear repeat listening sessions. I found myself returning to this CD several times…” Audiophile Audition
– “Composer/pianist/bandleader Lisa Hilton composes distinctive originals that are influenced by a wide swath of music.” Dan Ouellette/Zeal!nyc
Here are a couple spots where you can check out the album: Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Nocturnal-Lisa-Hilton/dp/B017Y6AQRE iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/nocturnal/id1058965612 or www.lisahiltonmusic.com or you can listen to a few tracks here: https://soundcloud.com/lisahiltonmusic

We had a wonderful time last week debuting the new music at Carnegie Hall – see photo/video here:https://www.facebook.com/LisaHiltonMusic . We’ll be at Pepperdine, in Malibu, CA, March 4th/Friday, Junior Blind of America March 10th, Classic Pianos/Portland March 12th and SF Jazz March 24th. We will add some more dates too. See more info here: http://lisahiltonmusic.com/tour-3/

Enjoy your weekend, and please let us know what you think of the new music if you get a chance.

Lisa

H O L I D A Y S!

November 29, 2015 by Lisa Hilton

Blog, Jazz, Lisa Hilton, piano jazz, twenty first century jazz

Ben Williams, Carnegie Hall, Holiday Gift Ideas, Ingrid Jensen, jazz, JD Allen, live, NYC, piano, piano jazz, piano students, Rudy Royston

Hope you had a nice Holiday weekend!

I enjoyed family time, hiking, a movie or too and food of course! Time to listen to NOCTURNAL – our new release that arrived Wednesday, which was exciting too, (it will be available for sale January 22nd, 2016). I also got time to play piano – so there was MUCH to be thankful for here in still sunny SoCal.

Every one has a discounted deal going on right now, but I try and offer a good price at Lisa Hilton Music all year round. With 17 CD’s out, plus 1 vinyl, digital downloads and sheet music, I hope you will find some good ideas to make your Holiday shopping easier!

I’m also getting excited about upcoming tour dates – especially January 17th, 2016 at 2pm at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall in NYC. Perfect acoustics, an awesome piano, and a great band: Ingrid Jensen/trumpet, JD Allen/tenor sax, Ben Williams/bass and Rudy Royston/drums. FUN! I really like to encourage students to all performances, but especially for the matinees. Student tickets (or APAP passes) are available at the Box Office: http://www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2015/1/11/0200/PM/Lisa-Hilton-and-Friends/ Other dates are coming up for next spring too:

MARCH 4th/Friday/Smothers Hall Pepperdine University/Malibu, CA 8pm
4255 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu/ www.arts.pepperdine.edu/ (310) 506-4522 West Coast premier of NOCTURNAL/ SOLO PIANO

MARCH 10th/Thursday /Junior Blind of America, Los Angeles 4pm SOLO PIANO
Performance for special needs students: 5300 Angeles Vista Blvd. L.A. www.JuniorBlind.org

MARCH 12th/Saturday/Classic Pianos Portland, 3:30pm
3003 SE Milwaukie Ave, Portland, OR 97202 (503)546-6522 www.PortlandClassicPianos.net/events SOLO PIANO

MARCH 24th/Thursday/ SFJazz
201 Franklin Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 (826)920.5299 SFJazz.org SOLO PIANO

APRIL 13/Thursday/Chicago Lighthouse for People who are Blind or Visually Impaired
1850 W Roosevelt Rd, Chicago, IL 60608 (312) 666-1331 http://chicagolighthouse.org/ A short solo piano performance for special needs students.

There will be more performances coming up in 2016 too of course.

Enjoy your week and the start of the Holiday Season – my favorite time of year!

Lisa

HORIZONS IS OUT!

April 8, 2015 by Lisa Hilton

Blog

Gregg August, jazz, JD Allen, lisa hilton, piano, Rudy Royston, Sean Jones, SFJazz, The Smith Center, Vibrato Grill Jazz

Hello and Happy April!

Hope you enjoyed a nice Holiday weekend. I was up in SF visiting family – catching a couple sunny days and a couple rainy ones. The BIG news here though, is that our new release, HORIZONS is Officially out as of today, April 7th! Yeah! After several months composing, a couple months post production, and then a few more months working on packaging and finishing it feels GREAT to share with the world. The experience is like a new baby or perhaps Christmas – there’s a lot of work and prep time that goes on for quite a while behind the scenes, and then you get to enjoy the experience. Each album is a bit different: HORIZONS features some new players: the clarion trumpet of Sean Jones (he also is head of the trumpet dept at Berklee College), Julliard trained bassist Gregg August and the ever inventive drummer, Rudy Royston. My favorite tenor sax player, JD Allen, is on this recoding as well. HORIZONS takes it’s inspiration from nature: when my life is touched by challenge I can find answers and peace by looking outside. Every day I see so much beauty, truth, and healing after difficulties in nature. In our highly tech world, I believe we need nature and art more than ever, so we have tried to explore these ideas musically through sound, melody and improvisation to create a sense of expansiveness, depth, beauty and hope for today and our future. There’s some terrific playing by the band, and I really think you’ll like of the tunes – a playlist of styles and moods so there’s something for everyone. You can hear references to Count Basie, Horace Silver, Satie or Duke Ellington, in my original compositions, but we also included covers of the Mancini classic, “Moon River” and the Black Keys, “Gold on the Ceiling” . Here’s our Official video: The Sky and the Ocean: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WlTblOPs1c Some people have already started buying HORIZONS – thank you as always for your support. NEW and exciting this year: we have a 10 track vinyl option as well as the 12 track CD, or digital version. (Vinyl comes with a free download card as well). Here are the buy links: Amazon, CDBaby as well as downloads at iTunes and www.lisahiltonmusic.com . Kind words: “An intimate soundscape inspired by the forces of nature …an all star band.” Critical Jazz “A winning new release.” Time Out New York “The music is artfully constructed but delivers an affecting punch.” The New York Jazz City Record “Absolutely incredible music and an album well worth your attention.” Hugh Carson KVNF Radio. Thank you, and hope to see you soon – oh and please wish us luck on this! Take care, Lisa https://www.facebook.com/LisaHiltonMusic

PLEASE COME EXPERIENCE THE MUSIC LIVE:

MAY 14 Thursday at SF Jazz/Joe Henderson Lab 8:00pm * (Mark your calendar – this will be posted soon).

MAY 15 Friday at The Smith Center, Las Vegas/NV 7:00pm * http://www.thesmithcenter.com/calendar/
MAY 16/Saturday at The Smith Center, Las Vegas/NV 7:00 pm * http://www.thesmithcenter.com/calendar/
MAY 17/Sunday at Vibrato Grill Jazz/ L.A. 7:00 & 8:30 pm * https://vibrato.herbalpertpresents.com/show-calendar/ (I recommend calling for a table reservation: 310.474.9400)
* With Lisa Hilton/piano, Ben Street/bass & Rudy Royston/drums.
JAN 17, 2015/Sunday at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall/NYC 2:00 pm (Mark your calendar – this will be posted later in the year).
Photo by Steven Lippman See all tour dates: Tour For More information contact: www.lisahiltonmusic.com P.O. Box 6368, Malibu, CA 90264

EXCITING NEW MUSIC FOR APRIL 2015

March 25, 2015 by Lisa Hilton

Blog, Lisa Hilton, piano jazz

Black Keys, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Gregg August, Henry Mancini, JD Allen, lisa hilton, Rudy Royston, Sean Jones

HORIZONS
Lisa Hilton and her Band Explore Nature Through Sound, Melody and Improvisation

“Every day I see so much beauty and truth in nature…” acclaimed composer/pianist Lisa Hilton writes about her latest release, Horizons. “By exploring these ideas musically, we hope to have created a sense of expansiveness, depth, beauty and hope.” Horizons, out April 7 in a twelve track CD or ten track vinyl release, features exceptional performances from the deep tenor sax of J.D. Allen, the clarion trumpet of Sean Jones, the fluency of Julliard trained Gregg August on bass and the ever inventive Rudy Royston on drums along with Hilton’s evocative piano. Hilton and her band bring a playlist of jazz styles inspired by Count Basie, Horace Silver or Duke Ellington, but also including covers of the Mancini classic, “Moon River” and the Black Keys, “Gold on the Ceiling” as well as nine of Hilton’s compositions. Horizons is out April 7, 2015 in a twelve track CD or ten track vinyl version on Amazon, CDBaby as well as downloads at iTunes.

“An intimate soundscape inspired by the forces of nature …an all star band.” Critical Jazz “Alternately lush and hard-driving post-bop on a winning new release.” Time Out New York
“The music is artfully constructed but delivers an affecting punch.” The New York Jazz City Record
“Absolutely incredible music and an album well worth your attention.” Hugh Carson KVNF Radio

Watch Official Video: The Sky and the Ocean: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WlTblOPs1c

COME EXPERIENCE THE MUSIC LIVE:

APR 16 Thursday at Junior Blind of America/Los Angeles 4pm (solo piano)
MAY 14 Thursday at SF Jazz/Joe Henderson Lab 8:00pm *
MAY 15 Friday at The Smith Center, Las Vegas/NV 7:00pm *
MAY 16/Saturday at The Smith Center, Las Vegas/NV 7:00 pm *
MAY 17/Sunday at Vibrato Grill Jazz/ L.A. 7:00 & 8:30 pm *
* With Lisa Hilton/piano, Ben Street/bass & Rudy Royston/drums.
JAN 17, 2015/Sunday at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall/NYC 2:00 pm
Cover photo by Steven Lippman See all tour dates: Tour

For more information: www.LisaHiltonMusic.com

Happy Holidays To YOU!

December 23, 2014 by Lisa Hilton

Ben Street, Blog, Carnegie Hall, Ingrid Jensen, J.D. Allen, Lisa Hilton, piano jazz, Rudy Royston, twenty first century jazz

Ben Street, Carnegie Hall, Ingrid Jensen, JD Allen, lisa hilton, piano jazz, Rudy Royston

Hopefully you are making it through the Holiday Season well so far and I hope that you soon will have some time to relax with your loved ones. I’m sharing this photo of my little 14 year old Italian greyhound Ricky from last year – I’m thankful for every year he’s still with me – he seems to get sweeter as he ages!

I’ve been the elf around here after my piano time. It’s been so busy that this year I’m waiting until the last minute to do the cookie baking, which means that I’m going to be pushed for time very soon – sound familiar? I’ve been preparing for our performance at Carnegie Hall January 11, 2015 at 2pm – hope you can come! (Please pass the link on if you have friends that might be interested). I’ll be there with JD Allen on tenor sax, Ingrid Jensen on trumpet, Ben Street on bass and Rudy Royston on drums If you’ve never been to a performance at Carnegie before, I think it’s time for you to come, don’t you? : http://www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2015/1/11/0200/PM/Lisa-Hilton-and-Friends/ We will be debuting new music from our new 2015 release H O R I Z O N S which I’m extremely excited about. Here is the very new video from HORIZONS: The Sky and the Ocean: http://youtu.be/2WlTblOPs1c and a solo piece from the album from a live video at Cornell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3B4et-OcDE When it Rains.

Wishing everyone Holidays filled with riches: love, friendship, family, art, music, nature, and peace,

Lisa

Winter Weather??

February 8, 2013 by Lisa Hilton

All, Jazz

APAP, Catch NYC, Chris Sholar, Church & State, Fred Hersch, Jaimeo Brown, jazz and piano, Jazz Connect, JD Allen, Julian Lage, Junior Blind of America, MOMA, Steinway Hall, The Smith Center, Top Chef, Vibrato Grill Jazz, Winter Jazz Fest, Zinc Bar, ZMR Awards

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