Terell Stafford Archives - Lisa Hilton Music

Escapism Press Reviews

February 7, 2018 by Lisa Hilton

composer, Gregg August, jazz and piano, JD Allen, lisa hilton, piano jazz, Rudy Royston, Terell Stafford

Lisa Hilton/piano

JD Allen/sax, Terell Stafford/trumpet, Gregg August/bass, Rudy Royston/drums

“Hilton’s music is picturesque and impressionistic…the pianist has excellent technique.” Downbeat

“Pianist Lisa Hilton has left an impressive creative footprint…Escapism continues her probing investigation of the American jazz landscape. Hilton has a knack for distillation, which is reducing music to its essences: harmony, melody, tempo, rhythm.” C. Michael Bailey/All About Jazz

“Hilton’s writing is quite expansive.” Cadence Magazine

“Hilton is a pure original… she has a magical ability to make her piano tell compelling stories. Certainly
on Escapism her facility for make her instrument talk and sing and wear its emotions on its proverbial sleeve is immense and you can hear this almost immediately as the recording begins. There is so much drama in her playing that one finds oneself constantly at the edge of the seat… She seems to be able to make her instrument a living, breathing thing. This is an album to die for.” Jazz da Gama/ Canada

Escapism “Blows open your mind and ears….this is a hot, happening date that charts a new course for pianist Hilton. Tasty jamming throughout. Well done.” Midwest Record

“Hilton is excitingly edgy during “Another Everyday Adventure” while showing her swinging digits on “Meltdown.” Her compositions are impressive… A Great Escape.” Jazz Weekly

“Lisa’s breadth of creativity and range of ideas are astounding as she reveals the virtuosity of her pianism, musicality & artful sound. Hilton has a lot to say. So listen. And then listen again.” Sounds of Timeless Jazz

“Hilton’s approach is fresh and uninhibited, taking musical paths less trodden and using expressive and unique chords.” Dee Dee McNeil/Musical Memoirs Jazz Journal

“A piano that seduces & captivates; a true passion in motion.” Actual Jazz/Uruguay “Artistic entertainment with splendid moments.” Vento Azul/Japan

“Great collection from Lisa Hilton – a really nice diversity.” The Music Korner Magazine “Lisa Hilton is top drawer.” Don Martin/Style Quarterly

“Fantastic!” Bebop Spoken Here

“Great energy, great creativity and broad range.” Jazz HQ

“This is a truly original musician with her own creative style and it is not surprising she is considered one of the leading pianists in the American jazz mainstream.” JazzQuad Russia

THANK YOU TO RADIO EVERYWHERE!

February 9, 2016 by Lisa Hilton

Blog, Jazz, Lisa Hilton, piano jazz

#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: https://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