Lisa Kristine Hilton is an American

jazz pianist Jazz piano is a collective term for the techniques pianists use when playing jazz. The piano has been an integral part of the jazz idiom since its inception, in both solo and ensemble settings. Its role is multifaceted due largely to the instru ...

, bandleader, producer, and composer based in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

. Her compositions blend jazz and blues with minimalism, classical, and avant-garde music. Since the early 2000s she has recorded with Antonio Sánchez,

Larry Grenadier Larry Grenadier (born February 6, 1966 in San Francisco) is an American jazz double bassist. Early life Grenadier's father, Albert, was a trumpet player, and his two brothers, Phil and Steve, play trumpet and guitar, respectively. Grenadier be ...

Christian McBride Christian McBride (born May 31, 1972) is an American jazz bassist, composer and arranger. He has appeared on more than 300 recordings as a sideman, and is an eight-time Grammy Award winner. McBride has performed and recorded with a number of j ...

Luques Curtis Luques Curtis (born August 17, 1983) is an American bassist from Hartford, Connecticut. Now based in New York City, Luques has been performing nationally and internationally with artists such as Eddie Palmieri, Ralph Peterson, Jr, Christian Scott, ...

, J. D. Allen, Rudy Royston, and Sean Jones.

Early years

Hilton was born in

San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfwa ...

, a small town on California's central coast. Her father was a

college professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

and her mother was an

accountant An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certifi ...

. At approximately the age of six, she began playing

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

, first teaching herself to play with a colored keyboard guide and composing simple songs. Later she was inspired by stories of her great uncle, Dutch pianist Willem Bloemendaal. Although her early years were dominated by classical music and

20th-century music The following Wikipedia articles deal with 20th-century music. Western art music Main articles *20th-century classical music *Contemporary classical music, covering the period Sub-topics *Aleatoric music *Electronic music *Experimental music *Ex ...

study, in her teens she became interested in

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

. Seeing the blues duo

Sonny Terry Saunders Terrell (October 24, 1911 – March 11, 1986), known as Sonny Terry, was an American Piedmont blues and folk musician, who was known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included vocal whoops and hollers and oc ...

and

Brownie McGhee Walter Brown "Brownie" McGhee (November 30, 1915 – February 16, 1996) was an American folk music and Piedmont blues singer and guitarist, best known for his collaboration with the harmonica player Sonny Terry. Life and career McGhee wa ...

in concert had a lasting impact, as did the music of

Jelly Roll Morton Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe (later Morton; c. September 20, 1890 – July 10, 1941), known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American ragtime and jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer. Morton was jazz's first arranger, proving that a gen ...

Robert Johnson Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generati ...

, and

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago b ...

. She played piano for her grammar school glee club starting in third grade, later joining orchestra and band on flute, and performed piano scores for high school musicals. Hilton moved to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. As a college student who studied art, she put music aside to complete a degree in art and design. After returning to music, she was drawn to jazz. She often mentions that she draws on her background in art to create compositions, painting and sculpting her compositions with ideas from music.

Return to the piano

In 1997, Hilton's interest in music was reignited by a neighbor, pianist

David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian musician, composer, arranger, record producer and music executive who chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His music career spans mor ...

. She resumed her studies in theory and composition with composer

Charles Bernstein Charles Bernstein may refer to: * Charles Bernstein (composer) (born 1943), American composer of film and television scores * Charles Bernstein (poet) Charles Bernstein (born April 4, 1950) is an American poet, essayist, editor, and literary sc ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. Her first album, ''Seduction'' (1997), was just solo piano which Hilton also produced. Since then she has produced and recorded about one album a year. The albums include cover tunes by musicians such as

Janis Joplin Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and musician. One of the most successful and widely known Rock music, rock stars of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and "electric" stage ...

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her sta ...

, and

Ann Ronell Ann Ronell (née Rosenblatt; December 25, 1905 — December 25, 1993) was an American composer and lyricist. She was best known for the standards "Willow Weep for Me" (1932) and "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf" (1933). Early life Ronell was bor ...

. Hilton began working in 2005 with the multi-Grammy Award-winning engineer

Al Schmitt Albert Harry Schmitt (April 17, 1930 – April 26, 2021) was an American recording engineer and record producer. He won twenty Grammy Awards for his work with Henry Mancini, Steely Dan, George Benson, Toto, Natalie Cole, Quincy Jones, and other ...

and they continued working together until his passing in 2021. Hilton has also worked with renowned engineers

Doug Sax Doug Lionel Sax (April 26, 1936 – April 2, 2015) was an American mastering engineer from Los Angeles, California. He mastered three of The Doors' albums, including their 1967 debut; six of Pink Floyd's albums, including ''The Wall''; Ray Charles ...

Gavin Lurssen Gavin Lurssen is an American mastering engineer. He owns Lurssen Mastering in Hollywood, California.Jay Newland Jay Newland is an American music producer, engineer and mixer, perhaps best known for his work with Norah Jones on her 2002 debut album ''Come Away with Me'', one of the best-selling albums of all time, with 27 million units sold worldwide to dat ...

, recording 300 tracks of original compositions as well as jazz covers. Hilton has been a voting member of the Producers and Engineers Wing of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (

NARAS The Recording Academy (formally the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; abbreviated NARAS) is an American learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is famous for its Grammy A ...

) since 2003.

Compositions

Hilton has received acclaim for her compositions. She cites

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", "B ...

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

, and

Horace Silver Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silver (September 2, 1928 – June 18, 2014) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, particularly in the hard bop style that he helped pioneer in the 1950s. After playing tenor saxophone and piano at sch ...

as her most important compositional influences. Hilton uses improvisation, free jazz, and shifting modal key centers for impressionistic compositions like "When it Rains." She use ideas from other art forms. "French composers like Debussy used harmonic 'impressionism,' but I like to use improvisational ideas in an impressionistic way," she told Phil Freeman of ''Burning Ambulance''. "Seurat's pointillism technique is something I have applied to music, for example." "Music feels like my first language," she added. "It feels like I can create an experience compositionally that allows others to also feel that experience, much like a good writer being able to describe love, or a painter or photographer creating an image. I think I can compose and play the sound of twilight, of a warm summer's day, of love or grief, of a subway or dolphins even. I think of my – and our – music as abstract or non-figurative paintings." Hilton ventures into longer musical forms, fusing jazz onto classical forms, as in "Midnight Sonata" from her album ''Nocturnal''. On ''Escapism'' her arrangements paired modern jazz modalities and classical techniques with a "lofty sophistication reminiscent of classic piano music from

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

, Chopin, or

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century clas ...

.".

Later life and career

As a bandleader, Hilton has worked with bassists

, and

, drummers

Antonio Sanchez Anthony Sanchez, Antonio Sanchez or Tony Sanchez may refer to: Sports * Antón (footballer) (1914–2005), Spanish footballer born ''Antonio Sánchez Valdés'' * Antonio Sánchez (boxer) (1905–?), Spanish boxer * Antonio Sánchez (footballer, ...

Nasheet Waits Nasheet Waits is an American jazz drummer. Son of percussionist Freddie Waits, Nasheet Waits is a New York native who has been active on the jazz scene since early in his life. Before pursuing a music career, he studied psychology and history a ...

, Rudy Royston,

Billy Hart Billy Hart (born November 29, 1940) is an American jazz drummer and educator. He is known internationally for his work with Herbie Hancock's "Mwandishi" band in the early 1970s, as well with Shirley Horn, Stan Getz, and Quest, among others. Bi ...

, and

Lewis Nash Lewis Nash (born December 30, 1958) is an American jazz drummer. According to ''Modern Drummer'' magazineNashhas one of the longest discographies in jazz and has played on over 400 records, earning him the honor of Jazz's Most Valuable Player ...

, trumpeters Sean Jones and

Terrell Stafford Terrell Lamark Stafford (born November 25, 1966, Miami) is an American jazz trumpeter. Stafford studied music formally, taking a bachelor's degree in Music Education at the University of Maryland in 1988 and a master's degree at Rutgers in 1991.Ga ...

, and saxophonists J. D. Allen, Steve Wilson, Brice Winston, and

Bobby Militello Robert Philip Militello a.k.a. Bobby M. (born 25 March 1950) is an American jazz saxophonist and flautist who was a member of the Dave Brubeck Quartet. Career During the 1970s, Militello went on tour with Maynard Ferguson. He returned to Buffa ...

. On her latest album, ''Paradise Cove'', her line-up included Obed Cavalaire, Ingmar Thomas, and her long-time bassist

. In the book ''The New Face of Jazz'', author Cicily Janus writes that Hilton has been "compared to some of the best pianists in history" – comparisons often include

Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block ch ...

and

Dave Brubeck David Warren Brubeck (; December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Often regarded as a foremost exponent of cool jazz, Brubeck's work is characterized by unusual time signatures and superimposing contrasti ...

, but Hilton's compositions are also considered to be reminiscent of musical impressionism inspired by

Claude Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

and

Erik Satie Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (, ; ; 17 May 18661 July 1925), who signed his name Erik Satie after 1884, was a French composer and pianist. He was the son of a French father and a British mother. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, but was an und ...

. On

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

, Hilton's album ''Transparent Sky'' was included in a roundup of the Best Recordings of 2021. In 1988,

Price Stern Sloan Price Stern Sloan (originally known as Price/Stern/Sloan) or PSS! was a publisher (now an imprint of the Penguin Group) that was founded in Los Angeles in the early 1960s to publish the Mad Libs that Roger Price and Leonard Stern had concocted ...

published the children's book, ''If Dinosaurs Were Alive Today'', which Hilton wrote with her sister, Sandra L. Kirkpatrick, and illustrated by Randy Chewning.

Publishing

Inspired by Joni Mitchell, Hilton started a publishing company that was trademarked Lisa Hilton Music. Her record label, Ruby Slippers Productions was established in 2001. She is a voting member of

National Music Publishers Association The National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA) is a trade association for the American music publishing industry. Founded in 1917, NMPA represents American music publishers and their songwriting partners. The NMPA’s mandate is to protect and ...

Inspiration

For over twenty years, Hilton has lived in Malibu, California. She has often said that the mountains, waterfalls, and beaches inspire her compositions, such as "The Sky and the Ocean" from ''Horizons''. The daughter of a biology professor, she values nature and brings it into her compositions, as in the titles "Vapors & Shadows" from ''Oasis'', "Mojave Moon" from ''Escapism'', and "Sunset on the Beach" from ''Day and Night''.

Philanthropy

Hilton supports music programs for children and teens, particularly the blind or visually impaired. She has performed

benefit concert A benefit concert or charity concert is a type of musical benefit performance (e.g., concert, show, or gala) featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate hu ...

s, conducted workshops, and played with young musicians at

Perkins School for the Blind Perkins School for the Blind, in Watertown, Massachusetts, was founded in 1829 and is the oldest school for the blind in the United States. It has also been known as the Perkins Institution for the Blind. Perkins manufactures its own Perkins Br ...

Chicago Lighthouse The Chicago Lighthouse is a non-profit organization located in Chicago, Illinois. The Lighthouse is one of the oldest social service agencies in Chicago. Among the many programs it offers are a school for children with multi-disabilities; job tra ...

Junior Blind of America Wayfinder Family Services (WFS), Founded in 1953 as the Foundation for the Junior Blind and previously known as Junior Blind, is a United States-based nonprofit organization for services for the blind. The organization's mission is to help child ...

and their Camp Bloomfield in Malibu, and the Adaptive Technology Lab at

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

in Boston.

Discography

* ''Seduction'' (Ruby Slippers Productions, 1997) * ''Playing by Heart'' (Ruby Slippers Productions, 1999) * ''Cocktails at Eight...'' (Ruby Slippers Productions, 2000) * ''Feeling Good'' (Ruby Slippers Productions, 2001) * ''In the Mood for Jazz'' (Ruby Slippers Productions, 2003) * ''Jazz After Hours'' (Ruby Slippers Productions, 2004) * ''My Favorite Things'' (Ruby Slippers Productions, 2005) * ''Midnight in Manhattan'' (Ruby Slippers Productions, 2006) * ''After Dark'' (EvoSound, 2007) * ''The New York Sessions'' (Ruby Slippers Productions, 2007) * ''So This Is Love'' (EvoSound, 2008) * ''Sunny Day Theory'' (Ruby Slippers Productions, 2008) * ''Twilight & Blues'' (Ruby Slippers Productions, 2009) * ''Nuance'' (Ruby Slippers Productions, 2010) * ''Underground'' (Ruby Slippers Productions, 2011) * ''American Impressions'' (Ruby Slippers Productions, 2012) * ''Getaway'' (Ruby Slippers Productions, 2013) * ''Kaleidoscope'' (Ruby Slippers Productions, 2014) * ''Horizons'' (Ruby Slippers Productions, 2015) * ''Nocturnal'' (Ruby Slippers Productions, 2016) * ''Day & Night'' (Ruby Slippers Productions, 2016) * ''Escapism'' (Ruby Slippers Productions, 2017) * ''Oasis'' (Ruby Slippers Productions, 2018) * ''Chalkboard Destiny'' (Ruby Slippers Productions, 2019) * ''More Than Another Day'' (Ruby Slippers Productions, 2020) * ''Transparent Sky'' (Ruby Slippers Productions, 2021) * ''life is beautiful'' (Ruby Slippers Productions, 2022) * ''Paradise Cove'' (Ruby Slippers Productions, 2022) * ''Coincidental Moment'' (Ruby Slippers Productions, 2023)

References

External links

Official website

Ruby Slippers Productions - record label / publishing company

Lisa Hilton ISNI ISO Certified database entry

Lisa Hilton Discogs.com Discography

Lisa Hilton Feature - Buffalo News

WHRB Interview by Jazz Spectrum writer Aarya A. Kaushik

''Oasis'' and Ruby Slippers Productions Review - All About Jazz

''Life is Beautiful'' The Big Takeover review

''Life Is Beautiful'' All About Jazz review

''Paradise Cove'' All About Jazz review
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hilton, Lisa People from San Luis Obispo, California Musicians from Malibu, California Women jazz composers American women jazz pianists American women jazz musicians 21st-century jazz composers Cool jazz pianists West Coast jazz pianists Music publishing companies of the United States American jazz pianists American jazz composers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American pianists 21st-century American women pianists 21st-century American women composers Jazz musicians from California