I haven't written for a while because I've been in the studio finishing my new release and then preparing to perform too. But it is now OFFICIALLY out! UNDERGROUND heads out to radio this week, and is already available at Amazon.com, iTunes and LisaHiltonMusic.com, with CDBaby adding it very soon for sale. It was such a great experience to record this CD - I did all the sessions in NYC which, for this small town California girl, was very exciting. How nice to walk to work instead of struggle in traffic! UNDERGROUND features Larry Grenadier on bass once again, and tenor saxman, J.D. Allen too, with the new addition of Nasheet Waits on drums. I am so pleased with the results, but is always a weird experience to finish a release and then no one hears it for about 3 months while the finishing work is done. It's like having a baby and no one sees it until months later! Now I get to share it with the world, and that is a deeply satisfying feeling. Creating music is about exploring my instrument and what I desire to communicate musically, working with compositional challenges and playing/interacting with my band. But I also am always thinking of my audience - what would you like to listen too? The end product feels like a gift I picked out for you and worked really hard on with the help of a lot of very talented people, so I hope you like it: UNDERGROUND was created with you in mind.
What are my favorite parts? J.D. on "Boston + Blues", Larry's solo on "Jack & Jill", Nasheet on... everything! The sound on UNDERGROUND has a really loose feel to it which I like a lot, and the few people who have heard it have commented on the great interplay within the band. It was such a cool experience all around - with great engineers as well: James Farber, Fernando Lodeiro, Larry Mah and Mark Wilder. I even like how the photos came out by Michael Weintrob on the very rainy cold day we had booked to shoot the cover.
Please try and make it out to one of the performances - it will be fun to play the new music - I even have one fan flying in from Luxembourg trying to make one of the show. How great!
March 31, 2011 @ Twins Jazz in Washington, D.C, http://www.TwinsJazz.com *
April 28, 2011 @ The Junior Blind of America in Los Angeles, CA. http:// www.JuniorBlind.org *
May 3, 2011 @ Regatta Bar near Boston, MA. http://RegattaBar.com **
May 25, 2011 @ Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood, CA.http://www. CatalinaJazzClub.com *
June 8, 2011 @ Zinc Bar in Greenwich Village, NYC. www.zincbar.com **
* Solo performance ** With J.D. Allen/tenor sax, Jaimeo Brown/drums and Ameen Saleem/bass
What do you think of the 3 minute behind the scenes video from UNDERGROUND?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAgHMPe9gew
Take care I hope Spring arrives soon for you!
Lisa
LisaHiltonMusic.com
