More Than Another Day

Pianist and composer Lisa Hiltons 2020 album More Than Another Day is a relaxing, harmonically nuanced album that showcases her warm instrumental sound. It follows her 2019 quartet album, Chalkboard Destiny, and was recorded after the Covid-19 pandemic brought her tour to a premature close. As on some of her past recordings, More Than Another Day features her trio with bassist Luques Curtis and drummer Rudy Royston. Together, they play a buoyant and organic brand of contemporary jazz informed by her love of classical music, Latin rhythms, and impressionistic soundscapes. Its also notable that Hiltons music is acoustic and recorded live without any noticeable overdubs. Its a sophisticated yet engagingly accessible sound that brings to mind the classic work of artists like Vince Guaraldi, Dave Brubeck, and Ramsey Lewis. Here we get nine breezy originals, including Secret Beach, No Sleep Until..., and the kinetic Retro Road Trip. Theres a dancerly aspect to Hiltons music as her spritely, lyrical songs evoke images of a ballerina pirouetting across a stage, or someone twirling in the summer wind on a hazy beach. Equally evocative are the minor-key Latin number Karma Chaos and the romantic Today I Looked at Love, the latter of which draws upon the introspective 60s balladry of Bill Evans. We also get a dreamy, bossa nova-tinged rendition of the Cole Porter standard Ive Got You Under My Skin. As with all of Hiltons work, More Than Another Day is a relaxing crossover album that draws upon the intellectual and swinging acoustic jazz tradition. ~ Matt Collar