Lisa Hilton - Paradise Cove (CD)

Lisa Hilton / piano
Igmar Thomas / trumpet
Luques Curtis / bass
Obed Calvaire / drums

#1 Amazon New Release/Jazz
#9 JazzWeek.com Radio Chart
10 Albums You Need To Know: Jazziz Magazine
#11 Amazon of all Cool Jazz Albums
#14 ZMR Music Chart
#67 Top Albums Jazz Week albums for the year
Featured New Release/Jazz on Apple Music
Best Jazz Albums Honorable Mention NYC Jazz Record

“A unique and brilliant sound by one of the best jazz pianists and composers around.” KVNF Radio

“Lisa Hilton's gorgeous new recording, Paradise Cove… It is an enduring work, as the lucid and uncomplicated motifs of "Another Simple Sunday With You" and the majestic uplift of "Storybook Sequel" (a tune that should become a chestnut) instantly reveal. Reminiscent of many reflective moments intuited by such influences as Dave Brubeck, Brad Mehldau, and Bill Evans, these two tracks alone make the album a sure fire favorite. The bright, whispery restraint exhibited on both tracks by drummer Obed Calvaire & Thomas clear, yearning lines are standout performances." All About Jazz

“The West Coast pianist and quartet produce a cool, melodic set rich in strong originals…all attractive and memorable lines…the rhythmic support throughout is flawless.” Jazz Journal/UK

“This album kicks up the butanes…” Jazz Weekly

“An album of empathic give-and-take that makes for an intoxicating combination.” All Music Guide

“Harmonic depth… highly melodic… bluesy…shimmering… stunning…danceable… lush…consistently strong…” Making A Scene

“Hilton channels the everyday beauty she sees around her into her music…jazz played with style, soul, spirit and sophistication…” Modern Jazz Today

“It’s friendly jazz, the kind that reaches the senses directly…an album to be simply enjoyed.”
Distrito Jazz /Brazil

“Sophisticated and bewitching Lisa Hilton (piano). An expressive jazz pianist whose influences range from post-bop to folk, blue tones and meticulously curated sounds”. Wind Out Magazine/Italy

“Elegantly-crafted and warmly-conveyed new album…” Exclusive Magazine

“I think we all need jazz in our lives these days,” composer, pianist, bandleader & producer Lisa K. Hilton writes in the liner notes for her upcoming December 2 release, Paradise Cove (Ruby Slipper Productions 1028). “From its inception ragtime, jazz and blues were created to boost moods or morale by America’s earliest composers, such as Scott Joplin, Ferdinand 'Jelly Roll' Morton or Nick La Rocca in the early 1900s. Our world today desires and deserves a lift after the last couple years, and with the music of Paradise Cove we aim to boost spirits everywhere.” Hilton’s twenty-sixth recording debuts her dynamic new L.I.L.O. Quartet with Hilton on piano, trumpeter Igmar Thomas, bassist Luques Curtis and drummer Obed Calvaire. (L.I.L.O. for their first initials). Hilton has performed with the in-demand bassist regularly for several years, but the charismatic trumpeter, Curtis’s former roommate at Berklee College of Music, is a compelling addition, complimenting Hilton’s fluid style and bluesy riffs. Calvaire, who regularly works with SFJAZZ Collective as well as Wynton Marsalis, contributes considerable creativity to this cohesive band. After recording at The Village Studios in Santa Monica, California Hilton declared, “The L.I.L.O. quartet is my favorite band ever… I bet anyone listening will hear the enjoyment we had!” Hilton chose the title Paradise Cove as a reference to our cultural need to find a ‘cove’ or protected spot in our personal lives on a daily basis to escape, revitalize, or reboot and to create a ‘paradise’ or state of grace amid today’s fast-moving times.

The nine original tracks and two cover tunes range from the expressive melodicism of “Another Simple Sunday With You” and the title track “Paradise Cove” to the wildly upbeat blowing on Dizzy Gillespie’s 1957 jazz classic “Birks’ Works,” Hilton’s own “Blues Vagabond” as well as her “Fast Time Blues.” These tracks exhibit plenty of the quartet’s improvisational fireworks along with some retro vibes. On a quieter note, the wistful cover of Burt Bacharach and Hal David's 1965 pop hit “What the World Needs Now is Love” and the moving “Storybook Sequel” showcase a band in touch with a range of emotions and performance styles. Hilton also includes a Latin tinge with the exuberant “Cha Cha Cha À La Carte” as well as the trio tune “Mercurial Moments,” which highlights excellent bass soloing by Curtis and exciting drumming by Calvaire. “Mediterranean Dreams” is a more classical piece for the trio while “Night Cap and a Little Chaos” has an enticing noir energy that rounds out these vibrant and well recorded tracks.

1 BIRKS’ WORKS / Dizzy Gillespie
2 FAST TIME BLUES
3 BLUES VAGABOND
4 ANOTHER SIMPLE SUNDAY WITH YOU
5 CHA CHA CHA A´ LA CARTE
6 MERCURIAL MOMENTS
7 NIGHT CAP & A LITTLE CHAOS
8 STORYBOOK SEQUEL
9 MEDITERRANEAN DREAMS
10WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW IS LOVE /Bacharach
11 PARADISE COVE
Running Time: about 50 minutes
Cover photography & design by Aaron Regan. Produced by Lisa Kristine Hilton
© 2022 Lisa Hilton Music® and Ruby Slippers Productions All Rights Reserved.