Lisa
Hilton Interprets the Sky and the Ocean With Her Music
Lisa
Hilton Interprets the Sky and the Ocean With Her Music
Malibu, California Jazz pianist and composer Lisa
Hilton’s current album Horizons is
another masterpice by an artist who continues to compose breathtakingly
beautiful songs. The recording consists of nine Hilton original compositions,
plus Duke Ellington’s “Sunset and the Mockingbird,” the Black Keys’ “Gold On the
Ceiling,” and Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini’s “Moon River.”
The album opens with the spritely “Vapors and Shadows,”
showcasing Lisa Hilton’s exquisite playing with Rudy Royston backing her on
drums, while he adds some percussion panache. The album then segues into the
head nodding, toe tapping “Nocturnal,” and it’s time to showcase Sean Jones on
trumpet and J.D. Allen on tenor saxophone, while Hilton sets a brisk tempo on
the piano. Let’s not forget Gregg August laying down some smooth licks on bass.
While taking a sip of her ice water, Hilton says, “On
the horns, I try and mix things up. New
York Sessions (the album) had a
horn and two saxophones and Twilight
Blues (another one of her albums)
had a horn and a saxophone. I guess
I just thought I would try it again. I had told myself at one time that I was
never, ever going to do a quintet again, (she
whispers as if she is confiding a secret), because it is a lot more work.
I wanted to mix it up and to do something different.
I know a lot of people prefer horns and you know you are always trying to
find the magic secret to create the sound that everybody loves.
On a few pieces (on
the album Horizons) I know that Sean used a flugel horn, instead of the
trumpet and that is an even rounder and prettier sound, then of course the tenor
sax is a deeper and mellower instrument, so I thought that worked well. The
trumpet has more of that high register that stands out and I think it goes well
against the texture of my piano. J.D. is the perfect foil for me. I tend to be a
little pretty and he tends to be a little deep. I think it is a very nice
balance there.”
Lisa Hilton takes time to talks about the song “Vapors
and Shadows,” thematically, “We have all had loss in our lives and it is not
just the loss of a pet or a person, but a lot of times we knew that something
was coming. We just knew we were
going to get that or we were going to do that and then somehow it doesn’t
happen. It doesn’t come. It
disappears and it passes. Then there is that sense of what happened?
If we look at that in nature we see that fog, clouds, shadows, they are
always moving. We don’t expect
clouds to stay in the same place, so the idea of “Vapors and Shadows,” is this
is normal. Things change, things move on. Things come and they go. It is only us
as human beings that we expect things to remain static. The idea musically is
can we create that sense of impermanence, but still when we lose something or
just miss it there is that sense of hey what happened?
I don’t like that and then we realize
it’s okay, it’s alright. I wanted to see
if I can convey that musically and if I can convey that sense of mystery. It’s
not sad and it’s not tragic, but it has a little hint of that in there. What
happened? Those are the kinds of things I am always trying to do. I operate on
about three different levels.”
The fourth song on the album
“The Sky and the Ocean,” is also an original composition by
Lisa Hilton and it is an enchanting instrumental that carries you away to the
west coast of California, as you take in the vast blue sky and the equally vast
blue ocean, with gently rolling whitecaps. The mood is serene. 
About “The Sky and the Ocean,” Lisa Hilton says,
“Everyday you are picking up the newspaper and everyday you are going, another
war? If you are an American you are going and how many wars are we in right now
and we are sending more troops? You are like, another beheading? There are
sometimes when every single day there is a new horror or a new tragedy that we
are hearing about. There was even a
time when even the weather was hitting really hard too.
I think one of the roles of an artist is
to try and extend the sense of hope in our lives and our futures in whatever
way. Not every artist chooses to do that. Sometimes they show blatantly what is
going on, our world is horrible, but I think generally as an artist, we try to
create some sense of hope.
Looking outside I thought, that sky has always been
there and that ocean has always been there and I think there is a sense of soul
in our world and the sky represents a sense of our future and a sense of our
hope. It is a sense of the blue sky
kind of thing. How do you convey that
musically? That is kind of tricky.
I think about our lives and then I look outside and I try to see if I can create
some sense of that musically.
The quintet serves up a beautiful interpretation of
Mercer and Mancini’s “Moon River,” with Sean Jones’ flugelhorn creating a mellow
ambience.
“I have been playing “Moon River,” since I was a little
girl. It is a really simple song and I never felt like I could play it right. It
took me until about ten years ago until I felt like I could play it. The reason
why is, if it is a simple piece of music, you have to bring more to the table.
You have to have a concept. When I play it the concept that I bring is, we don’t
know what the lyrics mean, so my interpretation is they are young. (As a child)
Johnny Mercer’s would go down to Florida to their summer place and he would hang
outside all day long. Their place was next to a river and it wasn’t called Moon
River, but like kids do, they would spend all day outoors and things like that.
I interpreted it as though he was thinking one of these days he was going to
have a boat that would take off. He was thinking about his future in a positive
sense. When you hear it the first time
he is thinking of his future and he is going to be in style someday. Hey, it’s
going to be good. Then the second
time you hear it, it is as a grown person looking back on life. Did he cross
that river in style? Looking back
at my life in maturity, I didn’t do exactly what I thought I was going to do.
It is still a good life. I wanted to get
that sense of beauty, peace and maturity and not this just I’m going to to do
this, like when we are twenty or something (Her
voice is deeper and edgier). Then I tried to end it with a strong sense of
Americana. It has a strong American feel and it is almost his (Mercer’s) piece
with a couple of tiny little changes. It is just a concept that you bring to it
and not so much what the notes are. The simplest songs are the hardest. It is
probably easier to play a lot of notes, because each note doesn’t have to mean a
lot. What separates good from great if you ask me is the ability to make a
single note shine. They used to say that Count Basie could make a single note
sing. I love that concept and that is something I always try to do too, but you
really have to play differently when there is so much space. When you listen to
the second half of “Moon River,” you have to play those notes well if you want
them to sound good. That is what separates the beginners from the masters I
think. It is that ability to make a single note radiate and one of my favorite
spots on the whole album is near the very end. Sean has this little trumpet riff
that he puts in there and I just adore it. I think J.D. plays that tune really
well and that is one reason I wanted to put that on.
I wanted to showcase the beauty of his instrument and Sean is such a
lyrical player too,” says Hilton.
During several of our conversations over the years, Ms.
Hilton has been sitting outside at her home watching the dolphins play and so we
asked if that inspired song eleven “Dolphins,” on the album
Horizons.
“Yes and no. I am always sitting or walking outside.
I think you know the story about
“Waterfall,” (from her album
American Impressions) when I was
hiking in Colorado and I saw the ideas of streams or waterfalls and how the
water moves at different speeds. It can rush and crash, but it also drips and
dribbles over the rocks and it pools and puddles and all of that. I look in
nature and I just observe that is what is going on in nature and then later on I
see how it applies to my life. Life
is like water, it drips, it dribbles, it pools and it puddles and it rushes, it
gushes, it crashes and we hope most of the time that it flows.
The album
Horizons is about my observations in
nature and how it connects with our lives.
When I look at dolphins I notice they have their own kind of water.
They have their own tempo, rhythm and
speed, but they are different than any other thing in nature that I have seen,
because often times I guess they are grazing, I don’t know that much about them,
but they just kind of do a floating thing.
(Her voice gets airy) They are
not moving a lot, but they are kind of graceful (Her
voice now reverts back to a normal tone) I think that is when they are
eating or digesting, I don’t know. At
other times they are quite playful as you know. Sometimes you will see them pop
out of the water. I was wondering just like on “Waterfall,” can I create that
musically and can I create that variety of rhythms and tempos.
Can I do it? Maybe I can. There is
always this curiosity musically. It is always an observation that I see in
nature and how I apply it to my life.
Then we kind of have that energy where we are wallowing around a little
bit and then when we are playful too or something. There are always several
different factors that I am working on in each piece.
I think that we are all the same and that we are all
made in God’s image. If I am feeling something…I used that word lost, but I
think our human language isn’t as specific as you can pinpoint in art and music.
If I am feeling something, I bet you anything that you felt it and I bet that
other person has felt it. I am just
trying to put it out there, our feelings that we share and I am trying to say,
hey it is okay. I see that in nature. I see the dolphins doing it (she
laughs lightly) and I am trying to relate it to this world that we have,”
she explains.
Recently, after her fans requesting for many years that
Lisa Hilton make sheet music available for some of her original compositions,
she has done just that and they can be purchased through her website. The link
to her website appears at the end of this interview.
When the question about the sheet music was raised, she
playfully asked, “Do you play the piano and would you like some?” before
continuing,”I had been asked for such a long time for piano sheet music, but the
problem that I had was that the tunes were always developing and growing as I
grew as a musician. They were never static.
That’s one of the things that we like about Jazz is that the music keeps
changing, unlike Bach or Mozart when you have to play (a certain) way. With Jazz
one of the things that we like is that it is more like people, because it
changes and grows. It was on my wish list to do for probably ten years and now I
offer ten pieces as sheet music. It was quite a big step for me and it was quite
a big deal. I am proud of this (the smile
is evident in her voice). I think what I will do is every year I will add a
few things. I try and choose very
melodic pieces that are not too difficult to play and that will be able to
translate pretty well. If there is a lot of improvisation then you probably are
not going to be happy buying that sheet music, because you have to fill in a
lot. The sheet music that is for sale are pieces that allow room for
improvisation, but if you don’t improvise you are still going to be able to play
the piece. 
I
think they are like $2.99 or something or $1.99. You pay through Paypal and then
you download the PDF just like that. It is really easy. Isn’t that exciting?
Now I am like where are all these people who for ten years asked me if
they could have sheet music? If you buy it, it is a digital download, you have
it immediately.”
Since it has been a popular topic of discussion among
recording and performing artists during the past year we asked Lisa Hilton for
her thoughts concerning the financial challenges facing artists today.
“I don’t think anyone can even comprehend, how small an
amount that artists are paid and my very first job when I was fifteen and
one-half was at McDonalds and I am pretty sure that I get paid less now and I
don’t know how to right that. Every year I spend some of my time discussing it
and making others aware and writing to BMI. The business model is not working
right now. I saw many years ago the writing on the wall with the digital
delivery of music, as in streaming. In the past the argument was it was a new
industry and they couldn’t afford any other way, but we all knew in the future
that it was probably going to be the only way that we would be getting music and
sure enough there are now a zillion stations on the internet or you even go on
Youtube and you can listen that way. Our terestrial stations are smaller and
less play is going on. I have been an independent artist for seventeen years, so
I do keep track of that stuff and I am interested in it.
I have seen the decline. I don’t know what we can do moving forward, but the
whole concept was the Block Buster economic theory and that is, you make a lot
of money now and you don’t worry about the future or the artist. The (other)
theory is you can make a little money for a long time. That little amount gets
smaller and smaller and smaller. You have to have something else going on like
teaching or something. Per song
being played and it has gone down since I have been keeping track, now most of
the time I get .00005 cents (per play streaming) and I don’t even verbally know
what that amount is. How do I say that? I don’t even know what amount of a penny
it is. I don’t have verbage for that.
Even the new idea that you can make money on Youtube, that money is
just pennies. I have faith, I really do and I am telling you, I don’t know what
is going to happen. Our costs are going up and they are not remaining static and
the pay is getting smaller. I know more than most people do, because if you had
a record label (meaning if you were
signed to one), you would probably never see your royalty statements or if
you did you wouldn’t have any say over them. The royalty statements in fact,
might just go to the record label. You wouldn’t have control.”
Earlier this year Lisa Hilton worked once again with Junior Blind America,
something that is very near and dear to her heart and that she first started to
do fifteen years ago. We wanted to give her an opportunity to talk about that
once again.
“I
think that I started working with them about the time I started my music career.
I didn’t know anybody who was blind. There was a camp for blind children near my
home and I thought that sounds pretty easy, I will go and help out there. I bet
they would like some music. It wasn’t a big thought, it
was just oh I would like to work with children and they are nearby and it is
a camp. It sounds like something that I would like to do. It was more touching
and more difficult than I thought it would be, so I played at the camp, which
was owned by Junior Blind of America for two years. When I met someone from the
Perkins School For the Blind in Boston, I didn’t have a lot of background with
people who are visually impaired, but I said I have played for blind children
before. This was just mentioned in
conversation and he said, well you need to come and play for Perkins! I was
like, well you are in Boston. He asked so many times and he was very persistent,
so I said okay. I said yes I will go. Again, it was more challenging than I
thought it would be. I went and I played there, I think about two or three
times. The last time that I played there I thought it was really successful. I
felt really good about the situation. Right after I played in Boston, I thought
to myself, I would like to do something more. I really enjoy being with students
who are visually impaired. A group from Chicago called me and I was like Chicago
even! Then someone else asked me if I could go to Chicago. I have worked with
Chicago Lighthouse now for six years or something like that.
Along the way, I said that I had worked with Junior Blind before and
then Junior Blind said hey thank you for mentioning us, why don’t you come and
play for us again. Now I have been going to the main camp for Junior Blind of
America for six years.
It really was a small idea, oh I think that would be fun and now it
is something that really enriches my life. I would have hoped by now I could
have done something bigger. I just
really wish I could do more and I haven’t been able to figure that out other
than to bring a nice afternoon to the students a couple of times a year. I
helped to raise a little money along the way. It is a big issue. It is bigger
than I had imagined when I first got involved. A lot of the kids are
multi-handicapped and it is difficult.
There are a lot of difficulties that we are working with. I feel good giving
what I would like to receive. I think
music should be for everyone. I don’t think that it should just be for the best
and the brightest. I would love to see the Grammies connected and send a Grammy
band every year. It has been hard to get other people involved, but I am still
plugging away and I still have a good time. I still have kids sneaking in hugs
all of the time (you can hear the smile in her voice).
Where the school for Junior Blind of America is they
have students who are visually impaired and students who are multi-handicapped.
In addition, they take in after school kids who are not handicapped. They are
kids where both of the parents work and they need some after school care. It is
in the Martin Luther King area of Los Angeles. It was a really big group the
other day, about 165. You know what, it was a wonderful audience. Everybody
liked the music. There was one wiggly worm and everyone else was listening. It
makes me think you hear all of this doom and gloom about Jazz and instrumental
music and that is waning, but I see these kids who don’t listen to a lot of Jazz
and they are all excited. There aren’t any lyrics and they are totally captured.
Their attention is totally captured for forty-five minutes, not five minutes and
not ten minutes, but the entire time. I think that sounds very hopeful. I am
hoping that’s my future (she laughs). Maybe another fifteen years from now that
is what everyone will be listening.