Lisa Hilton

Lisa Hilton is one of the most distinctive composers in jazz today, as well as an acclaimed pianist often compared to some of the best pianists in jazz. Growing up in a small town on California’s beautiful central coast, she originally taught herself to play music with a keyboard guide and wrote her first simple songs around 6, before beginning studies in classical and 21st century music starting at the age of 8. In college she switched majors from music and graduated instead with a degree in art. Hilton’s art background informs her compositions: she describes “painting” compositions using improvisation, and “sculpting” with constantly changing rhythmic ideas from different cultures and eras. Hilton’s music draws on classic American jazz greats such as Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Horace Silver, and Count Basie, as well as blues heroes Muddy Waters or Robert Johnson. She is a prolific composer who records and performs with many of today's jazz luminaries. Her twenty-eight albums sit regularly at the top of the Jazz Week and other radio/streaming charts for the last two decades, drawing millions of plays on streaming services and appearing regularly as an Amazon #1 New Jazz Release. Hilton has performed at venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Smithsonian Institution, UCLA's Royce Theatre, San Francisco Jazz, and others. Similar to: Bill Evans, Dave Brubeck, and Brad Mehldau