Lisa Hilton uses her pen and piano to create albums that capture moods; this latest one has her in a tough minded optimistic attitude to counter the angst and anger of the COVID lockdown. With her longtime trio team of bassist Luques Curtis and drummer Rudy Royston, paints sunny impressions of color and depth.
Her touch includes a dash of Chopin particularly on the samba-ish intro that leads into Royston’s backbeat on the title track, while the drummer sizzles on the nifty boogaloo of “Retro Road” that rides up and down like a drive in the hill country, eventually turning into a hip rhumba. Hilton’s fingers dance with Curtis’ bass over Royston’s high hat on the sauntering “Secret Beach” while she goes bel canto on the chiming serenade of the sole cover, a clever read of “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.” The impressive part of her tunes is that her solos feel like an interwoven string within the composition, completely organic, and not a separate part of the piece, as she gives snow flakes of tones in the upper register and Curtis sighs on “Blues & Beauty”. There’s a traditional folk feel to “Dear Life of Mine, her confident grasp of the ivories on the Afro Cuban “Karma Chaos” has a visceral effect, while she shows soft and delicate fingerprints on the reflective “Today I Looked At Love”. The three work together like pieces of marble in a mosaic, creating a rich overall picture with nuggets of bright and dark pieced together, and with the best of artistic creations, looking attractive close up or at a 15 foot distance away.