Like all true artists,pianist and composer Lisa Hilton shows great steps of growth on her latest trio album with bassist Luques Curtis and drummer Rudy Royston. Her interpretive skills are revealed in a lurking noir read of Ernie Wilkins’ “Ernie’s Blues” as she takes the baton from the shadowy Curtis. Her own material has her in rich impressionistic form a la Debussy on “Unforgotten Moments, Half Forgotten Dreams” and the nocturnal “Too Hot”, but with an underlying rumble support from Royston, creating a rich taffy pull of musical tension. Her left hand is saloon strong on the rhythmic “Santa Monica Samba” and assertive as she bounces over Royston’s high hat on “Retro Road Trip”, but there’s always an extra layer of thread in each tapestry, warm on ‘Temporary Lullaby” and elegant during “So This Is Love”. On her own, her fingers agonize as she stretches out on the longest piece, the 6 plus minute “Seduction”, but it actually works the best, as her thoughts are patiently explained.
There is some composing richness here that deserves to be put to larger ensembles. Hilton is creating a catalogue that deserves to be a Songbook.