Marquis Hill

Marquis Hill is an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader from Chicago. His musical signature employs post-bop and jazz-funk in synthesizing other genres and influences including hip-hop, R&B, Chicago house, and neo-soul. His self-released debut album, New Gospel, appeared in 2011, and was followed by The Poet in 2013. He won 2014′s Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Trumpet Competition and issued the Modern Flows, Vol. 1 EP. His prize was a one-album contract with Concord, realized by 2016′s acclaimed The Way We Play. Modern Flows, Vol. II appeared in November 2018, followed with The Love Tape and Love Tape with Voices in October 2019. In November 2020, he released the astrologically themed Soul Sign (in spoken word and instrumental versions). March 2022 saw Hill release the New Gospel Revisited. Recorded in concert in 2019, the date featured an unabridged performance of New Gospel by Hill’s all-star Blacktet.
A native of Chicago, Hill began playing the horn in elementary school. He began focusing on jazz –and hard bop in particular — in high school after a band teacher gave him a copy of trumpeter Lee Morgan’s 1958 Blue Note album, Candy. After graduating earned his B.A. in music education and jazz studies from Northern Illinois University in 2009. Three years later, he received his master’s degree in jazz pedagogy from DePaul University. A highly lauded performer, he won first place in both the 2012 International Trumpet Guild’s Jazz Improvisation Competition and the 2013 Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition. As a professional musician, he has performed with a wide array of artists, including Benny Golson, Rodney Whitaker, Steve Turre, and others.
He released his debut album, New Gospel, in 2011, followed by Sounds of the City in 2012. His third full-length, The Poet, appeared in 2013. In 2014, Hill gained global acclaim for winning the Thelonious Monk Institute’s International Jazz Trumpet Competition. He released his fourth studio album, the hip-hop-infused Modern Flows, Vol. 1 In 2016, he delivered his acclaimed Concord debut, The Way We Play and followed with the self-issued Meditation Tape a year later, with Brett Williams on Rhodes and keyboards, Junius Paul on bass, Makaya McCraven on drums, and spoken words provided by Marvin “Bugalu” Smith and Harold Green III, along with MCs King Legend and Mic We$t. It was released for free through his website.
Modern Flows, Vol. II appeared in 2019 from Hill’s newly established Black Unlimited Music Group label. It featured a group of young New York musicians, including Paul, saxophonist Josh Johnson, vibraphonist Joel Ross, and drummer Jonathan Pinson. Hill followed with Love Tape with Voices a year later. A concept set focused on the expression of love from the female perspective, the trumpeter/composer collected a series of interviews on the subject by iconic African-American women including Eartha Kitt, Abbey Lincoln, and Phylicia Rashad, and wove the quotes and their voices into his compositions and soundscapes. He was accompanied by keyboardist Michael King, bassist Junius Paul, and drummer Marcus Gilmore, with a guest vocal appearance by Christie Dashiell. Co-produced by Charles Haynes and Makaya McCraven. The set was followed weeks later by Love Tape, an instrumental version.
In November 2020, Hill followed a similar aesthetic approach for Soul Sign. In collaboration with Bronx-based astrologers Mecca Woods and Boro the Lucky Libra, he created a cosmic musical journey through the zodiac in the form of a spoken word-infused beat tape. An instrumental version appeared the same day.
In March 2022, New Gospel Revisited appeared from Edition Records. Recorded live at Chicago’s Constellation in December 2019, it offered a sometimes radical reinterpretation of 2011′s New Gospel by Hill’s Blacktet. The band, completely comprised of other bandleaders, featured his trumpet in the company of saxophonist Walter Smith III, Ross on vibes, pianist/keyboardist James Francies, drummer Kendrick Scott, and bassist Harish Raghavan. ~ Matt Collar & Thom Jurek