Lisa Hilton - Chalkboard Destiny (CD)

Reviews:
"Albums like Chalkboard Destiny scream for attention and praise. The group is strong, assured, creative and fresher than most of what is being passed around these days as modern jazz. Few artists have a personal and yet accessible sound these days. Hilton gets put in the top rung on this one." JazzWeekly

"Chalkboard Destiny and the quartet Hilton calls her own: drummer Rudy Royston, bassist Luques Curtis and JD Allen on tenor sax, create a vibe which is really hard to turn away from. Just press play anywhere on the disc and you won't be disappointed in any way. Just the opposite, to be exact. For there is a richness to the sound of four people playing music meant to capture your attention, as Hilton's intrigue makes her compositions more malleable than ever, opening time and space for her and her cohorts to re-imagine and define. Chalkboard Destiny,Temporary Lullaby, and the elastic emotionality of Joni Mitchell's Blue Boy are the heart and soul of the disc, and what any listener of this grand language comes to the music for. The quiet depth achieved on Temporary Lullaby simply has to be heard, not spoken or written about. The quartet's expansive rendering of the fifty-year-old Blue Boy only proves that we share the same heart here, then, now, and forever. Hilton packs a lot into small spaces...a recording that is simply one of the best of the year." All About Jazz

This is straight-ahead, eminently listenable jazz, played with both energy and finesse, showcasing Hilton s compositional strengths... It s a beautiful listen. --Elmore Magazine