Cape Town's list of fine piano players includes the youngest of the lot, Kyle Shepherd, the oldest of the lot, Abdullah Ibrahim, and, somewhere inbetween, at somewhere around 50, although you'd never say, is Hilton Schilder. Hilton comes from the Schilder and Africa dynasty of musicians, the biggest family of musicians in the world.
Which would account for nothing if there wasn't exceptional skill. Watching Hilton perform is like watching a six year old at play. Free and full of imagination.
Hilton grew up in a part of Cape Town called Lotus River. He is the son of well-known pianist and bandleader, Tony Schilder and music was always around him. At the age of 3 he was given his first drum. He was around when his dad’s jazz band rehearsed and secretly climbed on drummer Monty Weber´s drum kit when rehearsals were over.
From an early age he began to play in many different kinds of groups. There were jazz bands, Carnival troupes, disco bands, hip-hop groups and he was part of all of these in one way or another.
Hilton inherited his musical talent from his family. He refers to this as the gift from the Schilder /Africa dynasty.. He plays several instruments, though the keyboard is his main choice. Keyboard in the broadest sense though. From grand piano to synthesizers and computer sequencers, Hilton is at home on all of them.
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His first real success was with his "goema rock" project, The Genuines, with musical partner Mac McKenzie, with whom he made four albums and toured throughout South Africa. This band also performed, in Germany, Holland and Italy. He was the driving force behind the band, Iconoclast, and he is a regular member of Robbie Jansen's, Sons of Table Mountain as well as substantial contributor to these groups' repertoire as a composer.
In the last 2 years he has spread his wings to take part in a musical workshop in Denmark and to appear solo in concerts in France to mention only two international events in his diary.
Hilton's cultural roots are ever evident in his work. He is intensely aware of his social and political surroundings. He describes himself as a "mind freedom fighter".
His debut solo album, No Turning Back, released in 2003, is a very personal musical statement. It offers a range of music from Cape Jazz, through rock/pop to electro ambient sounds. The album was nominated for a SAMA Award (the South African “grammies" as Best Contemporary Jazz Album. Though his name appears prominently in the credits of over 20 CDs and numerous TV shows this album is surprisingly his solo debut.
He followed up No Turning Back with an independently produced and released electronic project called Rock Art, a collaboration with Alex van Heerden. The project fuses indigenous sounds from Southern Africa with a `clicks and cuts' style of electronica. As of December 2008, Alex and Hilton are preparing for the release of their second Rock Art album.
In between, Hilton produced a solo piano album called Elements of Surprise. Independently produced and released, recorded by Mac McKenzie as a live concert.
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