Pianist Lisa Hilton must have gone to Gold’s Gym a few times the past year, as she shows lots of muscle on this latest disc. She’s teamed up with an aggressive group of JD Allen/ts, Antonio Sanchez/dr, Gregg August/b and Terrell Stafford/tp for a collection of hard hitting originals that charges forward like a stampede.
She sets an assertive and dark line with her digital attack along with Sanchez for an incessant title track that has Allen and Stafford blowing out fire. A piece like “A Spark in the Night” has thick and foreboding moods for the two horns while “Whirlwind” has a bluesy strut that is in your face. Allen moans on the evocatively pleading “Twilight” while Stafford floats on “Willow Weep For Me.” She also creates some shadowy film noir moods as on her trio moods during ”Seduction” as well as on her “Three part “Midnight Sonata.” Her solo read that closes the album with “An August Remembered” shows that she hasn’t lost her flexibility while gaining muscle mass in her arms. Her strongest outing yet, in more ways than one.
She’s playing a solo performance at the Pepperdine March 4. Good excuse to check her out! Info at www.pepperdinearts.ticketforce.com