Artist: Lisa Hilton
Album: Chalkboard Destiny
Label: Ruby Slippers
Release Date: 12.6.2019
When an artist releases her 24th album to the praise of “quantum leap” and “my favorite album we’ve worked on” it certainly merits a careful listen. The title is the summation of pianist/composer/bandleader Lisa Hilton’s introductory line in the liner notes: “We live in an exciting time of constant change,” suggesting that she is not beholden to traditional myths. That would imply to many that Hilton is an improvisational artist, but her real strength is in her compositions. She did recruit some great players for this effort: tenor saxophonist JD Allen, drummer Rudy Royston and bassist Luques Curtis. Four Grammy Award-winning engineers were involved, notably the highly acclaimed Al Schmitt who called this “his favorite album we’ve worked on,” Gavin Lurssen, Reuben Cohen and Fernando Lodeiro.
Lisa admits to echoes of Count Basie, Horace Silver and, through Allen’s robust tenor work, Coltrane too. The band never rehearses; she introduces the composition and then they play, so, like the best jazz, it all unfolds in the moment. Hilton’s piano sound is lush, delicate, and highly melodic, best evidenced by the title track. Her ten compositions traverse several moods, tempos, and harmonic depth. They begin with “Rush Hour Rhapsody” which has old-school vibe, some cool vamping from Hilton behind Allen’s tenor and some of that Horace Sliver soul-blues groove. Hilton points to “Sympathy for the Blues” as her favorite track, especially its explosive mid-section with Allen’s show-stopping solo. You notice right away in these two opening tracks Royston’s accents and Curtis’ booming lines as Hilton often lays back, allowing her bandmates plenty of space.
The tender “Temporary Lullaby” was written for her daughter and is another example of Hilton’s sensitive touch. The one cover and a true standout track is Joni Mitchell’s “Blue Boy” which Hilton thinks was written for her lover Leonard Cohen and the inevitable demise of their relationship. The band was not familiar with the tune so she played it through once, leading to two majestic takes, with Allen’s moody tenor serving as a contrast to his bandmates. “Waltz from Nowhere” is also in a ballad mode, featuring more terrific work from Allen. Hilton wrote it after evacuating her California home due to massive wildfires. There is Latin flavor, too, in “Tropic of Tango,” “Myths & Fantasy,” and “Adventures & Alibis.” “Café au Mojo” is one of the brightest up-tempo pieces with echoes of Silver again.
This is straight-ahead, eminently listenable jazz, played with both energy and finesse, showcasing Hilton’s compositional strengths—you may find it worthwhile to explore Hilton’s catalog too. Not only is she a talented musician but a caring person as well. She regularly spends time helping blind students at the Perkins School for the Blind in Boston, The Chicago Lighthouse for People Who Are Blind, Jr. Blind of America, Camp Bloomfield for the Blind, and Berklee College in Boston and their adaptive music lab for visually impaired. “Music should be for everyone,” Hilton says. It certainly seems that she approached this album that way. It’s a beautiful listen.
—Jim Hynes
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