Lisa Hilton | "Extended Daydream"

The Lisa Hilton Quintet Returns with the Fluid and Cool Extended Daydream

Featuring JD Allen on Tenor Sax, Trumpeter Igmar Thomas,

Bassist Luques Curtis & Drummer Rudy Royston

Available November 28, 2025 via Ruby Slippers Productions

“Hilton has pianistic depth and willingness to surrender to, and then occupy, the emotions a song contains.” — DownBeat

“Lisa Hilton is an extraordinary pianist… listeners soon find themselves led into a world all her own, adorned by flights of eloquent melodic lines.

Hilton is also a fine composer and can paint sonic pictures…” — Hot House Jazz

“Lisa Hilton has been compared to some of the best pianists in history, but her sound and style are all her own.” — The New Face Of Jazz by Cicily Janus

The Lisa Hilton Quintet returns with Extended Daydream (Ruby Slippers Productions 1031) set for release on November 28, 2025. The award-winning composer and acclaimed pianist generously shares the spotlight with her stellar bandmates on eleven standout tracks. In a natural and genre-fluid approach, Hilton seamlessly combines the renowned 1959 jazz classic So What by Miles Davis alongside the 2024 tune Wildflower by singer/songwriter Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O’Connell, as well as nine of her own compositions.

Although both cover tracks are notable, the legendary Davis track begins with Hilton’s wafting modal introduction, which merges gently into the iconic two-note motif before unfurling with the virtuosic intensity of the band. Although Thomas’s and Allen’s horns each treat the listener with their prowess, Curtis holds the band steady with an upbeat intensity, and Royston shines in his percussion role, leaving no doubt this quintet can subtly reinvigorate a classic. In contrast, the subdued Wildflower with Thomas on muted trumpet showcases the vulnerability inherent in this song about regret. Hilton has a way of inconspicuously reinventing a standard from any era, and her band willingly supports that vision.

JD Allen is a welcome return, having recorded eight previous albums with Hilton. Their compatibility has always been apparent, weaving complementary lines on the title track Extended Daydream, or swinging together on the finger snapping Momentary Mystery. Tropical Tuesday begins with a delightful Latin rhythm perfect for Curtis’s talents and showcases Hilton’s abundant melodic skills, while It’s Just for Now displays her fluid soloing style. Switching it up, the quintet launches wholeheartedly into Here & There & Back & Forth, chock full of musical references from several eras. Hilton writes in her liner notes that the sensitive tunes Seabirds and Blues on the Beach reference the recent fires in Southern California, while Sunset Tale and the solo piano Spacious Skies call for us to find relief from today’s challenges in nature’s beauty, closing out the album with a slightly classical feeling.

If a daydream is a hopeful or insightful experience, the arc of Extended Daydream does extend hope and beauty along with a wallop of improvisational energy and style. Long a composer and pianist to watch, Hilton triumphs with this new genre fluid collection of cool jazz.

About Lisa Kristine Hilton The music of Lisa Hilton draws inspiration from our great American composers: the evocative Miles Davis, Bill Evans, and Chet Baker, who at distinct times in their respective careers, were associated with the style known as “cool” jazz. The grooves of Horace Silver and Dizzy Gillespie, and the creative depth of Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk along with blues hero Robert Johnson were also artists of inspiration. She is a prolific composer who records and performs with many of today’s jazz luminaries. Her thirty-one albums regularly sit at the top of the Jazz Week and other radio/streaming charts, 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 Chicago’s historic Green Mill, among others.

Read a Q&A with Lisa Hilton and liner notes to learn more about Extended Daydream.