Malibu based pianist Lisa Hilton’s latest release, American Impressions (with Nasheed Watts/dr, JC Allen/tenor, and Larry Grenadier/b) is a sonic tribute to the unique sounds of this wonderful country. In her liner notes, which also includes photos of archetypal US scenes like Monument Valley, she mentions the true American icons of music. About to perform solo at Catalina’s Jazz Club, Ms Hilton revealed the artists of all genres that inspire her composing and performing skills.
WHAT INSPIRES YOU ABOUT COUNT BASIE?
What I’ve always admire are composers that do a lot with seemingly very little. What I think are the most memorable songs, like Minuet in G by Mozart, Fur Elise by Beethoveen, and certainly the things done by Count Basie, are very simple, yet very sophisticated. So, I’ve kind of latched on to him a little bit and have looked at what he did with a very few amount of notes and a lot of timing, he was able have something that a lot of other people didn’t have.
You can play lots of notes. It’s like saying lots of words. Anyone can do that, but can you play a few notes or say a few words and still be able to communicate. To me, that’s what separates the greatest of the artists.
A WORD FITLY SPOKEN IS LIKE A PAINTING OF A ROSE FRAMED IN GOLD. HOW ABOUT ELLINGTON?
He was such a master of so many things. I think he must have had a huge personality, because he wrote so many different things. I know that he worked with Billy Strayhorn, and he still had a huge drive to compose, he wrote something almost every day. He created a huge body of work in so many different areas. He was someone who could create a beautiful melodic line and make it very interesting, primarily with harmony rather than rhythm. He was one of America’s best composers.
MUDDY WATERS?
I consider him one of the classic blues composers. He represents our “blues” history. I really thing that the blues as a color has been ignored musically for a little while. I like it a lot. The blues is not just a compositional, and a scale and a mode, but it’s also a color. I think that it’s starting to come back. It’s something that I’ve always liked, so even though it’s been absent for a while, I like to use it. Basie used it too, but subtly.
I WAS SURPRISED TO SEE GREEN DAY ON YOUR LIST OF INSPIRATIONS. WHAT DO LIKE ABOUT THEM?
I’m also inspired by contemporary music, and they are incredible composers. The American Idiot album was very important, and then it went to Broadway. It has definitely stood the test of time. I’m inspired by the music of today, but I don’t feel that I have to do any covers of today’s songs. I think that our 21st century ears want to hear all of it. Hopefully, you can be able to hear music that is familiar, but also music that can be unfamiliar.
AND YOU’RE STILL DOING AN ALBUM WITH A SONG BY JONI MITCHELL!
I just went back and forth with that one. I felt that it chose me, so I hope that everyone likes it.
DID YOU GROW UP LISTENING TO JONI MITCHELL?
I think that I do tend to use female composers, like Janis Joplin in the last album. Maybe I feel a bit more compatible there, I don’t think it’s something that I do consciously. When you look at older composers, however, it’s all guys. Or maybe I’m just trying to get a little balance there.
Steve Reich has also been an inspiration to me. He’s one of our fathers of minimalism, which was created here in America, too. It’s been something that’s been creeping into jazz to a certain extant. I like some of its principles, even thought I don’t like listening to the same note for 45 minutes or to silence for 45 minutes, but I kind of like the ambience that you can get with it, and the things that you can explore with minimalism. That’s why the 21st century is so bright, it has a variety of styles.
WHY DID YOU PICK ELLINGTON’S “ECHOES OF HARLEM” FOR YOUR RECORD?
That song is the master of simplicity. That is about the simplest song that you can come up with, but to play it well takes a lot of skill. It’s a little unusual for Ellington in that it’s based on a blues scale, as he really didn’t write that way. Others like Basie and Silver did, so it’s kind of a unique kind of tune for him. I had recorded it once before a long time ago, but I didn’t think I had given it correct service. So, when you hear JD Allen’s big fat tenor it there, it sounds perfect.
WHY DO YOU INCLUDE A PICURE OF MONUMENT VALLEY ON YOUR COVER?
We were trying to come up with the feeling that these are different impressions of our world, with a bit of Americana. You’re not going to mistake this music to be coming from Cuba. And we’re so embracing right now in America from music from around the world, that I felt, “Hey, this is OUR music!” So, that picture represents our America. The pictures all represent a little old, a little arty, a little everyday America, a little rain. A little bit of the variety of flavor in America that I like.
EVEN SOME OF THE SONGS ECHO PARTS OF AMERICANA, SUCH AS “SUBWAY.”
I think so, but I didn’t sit down to write a subway song. It’s not programmed in that sense. It was just an interesting little thing I was doing compositionally. It was some concepts I was. working on with minimalism and dissonance. How you can work with that. It quotes Prokofiev as well in there. So, it was just interesting for me to see if I could create something that was in once sense static, and yet still make it exciting. After I composed it, I thought ,”What does this sound like to me?” And I came up with the idea of a train.
YOU HAVE THAT SATIE SPACIOUSNESS TO YOUR PLAYING, PARTICULARLY ON THE SOLO PIECES.
I’m interested in transparency and translucency, as well as density, which is why many of the pieces are so dense. Some are also very open.
THIS SESSION FEATURES A LOT OF INTERPLAY BETWEEN YOURSELF AND NASHEED WATT’S CYMBALS. DID YOU NOTICE THAT WHILE YOU WERE RECORDING?
I noticed it after I recorded it. I think that as a leader I give my directions, and yet I still work with leaders, so I allow them to create their interpretation. Nasheed had just come off of a holiday. He felt well rested, so he got into the studio and started playing incredibly. He used a lot of cymbal work which was real beautiful with the sticks. After mixing the master, I first thought that there might be too much, but that was the moment, and it was beautiful. Sometimes on any given day, one person or another person is going to stand out a bit more, as on this recording session.
THE MUSICIANS SEEMED MORE CONVERSANT WITH EACH OTHER, AS OPPOSED TO SIMPLY BEING A BACKUP TEAM.
They are all amazing. Larry Grenadier is just a brilliant player. And JD Allen has the best tenor tone I’ve heard. And at the first sound that comes out of his horn, all of us just went, “Whoa!” Everyone was great, but Nasheed was at the top of his game.
I JUST FINISHED TALKING TO AHMAD JAMAL ABOUT WHAT SUCCESS IS. NOW, I WANT YOUR INPUT AS TO WHAT IS SUCCESS.
I think that is the ability to be able to create what you are intending to create. Did you hit the mark that you were going for? I think that is what success is for me. And the ability to be able to work at the frequency that you would like. For example, so artists are only able to record every five years. Or they have too many or not enough gigs. So, to me, being a success is being able to work at the rhythm that you feel comfortable with.
ARE YOU THERE YET?
I felt this time around. I know that whatever happens with the albums, that I already know that I’m going to work on something next year. This time I really dipped into working compositionally. I really tried all kinds of things and that this time they worked. I used a big broad palate and I think that the colors worked well together. Some people say that I’m an impressionist, but I felt that I was a Seurat or at other times a Van Gogh; in some instances putting in bright frilly things together and other instances having more of a soft pattern. Very different things, but still having a common and familiar feel.
HAVE YOU COME TO THE POINT WHERE YOU COULD SAY TO YOURSELF “I”VE ARRIVED?”
I don’t know how you could define that. I feel good as a composer. I just love exploring my instrument.
HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE PERSONAL SUCCESS?
Having a balance of things doing what you want. Having a faith and belief that you can rely on. I think that everyone gets to create their own lives.
CAN YOU SUPPORT YOURSELF AS A MUSICIAN?
I think that these days, what’s best is having finances coming in from more than one direction, and I do, so that’s helpful.
I think that every artist dreams of waking up and getting discovered, like Rita Hayworth at the Schwab’s Drug Store. I think that actually it’s more of a gradual process, where you pay your dues, but there are certainly a bunch of challenges along the way.
ANY IDEAS OF A PROLONGED TOUR?
Any thing that comes along is fine. If I do, that’s fine. And if I don’t then I’ll compose a lot. I like playing and I like composing. Whatever comes is fine. I’ve got some tour dates. I love to compose in the summer time. I love to perform, and I love this new music. My recording season is winter. I don’t want to be working that hard in the summer months. I have a whole rhythm now, and I like it, and every year I look back and think, “I can’t believe that I did that. It was so much work.” But I do it again and again.
My secret is that I don’t consider myself disciplined. I consider myself a hedonist. I just spend a lot of time doing what I really enjoy doing, and then it produces stuff. I don’t consider myself being disciplined at the piano; I’m playing and having a good time. I have a wonderful time at the piano.
The solo at Catalina’s will be a solo gig. It will be post Easter, so hopefully everyone will be in a good mood after the chocolate bunnies.
One of the pleasures of listening to Ms. Hilton’s music, or watching her perform in concert, is the palpable sense joy that she emits when sitting down with her friend, the piano. Her latest disc, which has her in solo, trio and quartet formats, displays her love of all music that at its heart is America. While some politicians may disagree, jazz in the hands of Ms Hilton is one of the ways that proudly displays America’s exceptionalism.