From his beginnings as one of Chicagos most thrilling young trumpeters, to his current status as an internationally renowned musician, composer and bandleader, Marquis Hill has worked tirelessly to break down the barriers that divide musical genres. Contemporary and classic jazz, hip-hop, Rto Hill, theyre all essential elements of the profound African-American creative heritage hes a part of. It all comes from the same tree, he says. They simply blossomed from different branches.That mission to bring styles together, complemented by Hills absolute mastery of his instrument, is a through line connecting his many achievements...
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From his beginnings as one of Chicagos most thrilling young trumpeters, to his current status as an internationally renowned musician, composer and bandleader, Marquis Hill has worked tirelessly to break down the barriers that divide musical genres. Contemporary and classic jazz, hip-hop, Rto Hill, theyre all essential elements of the profound African-American creative heritage hes a part of. It all comes from the same tree, he says. They simply blossomed from different branches.That mission to bring styles together, complemented by Hills absolute mastery of his instrument, is a through line connecting his many achievements. It can be heard on his latest album, Modern Flows Vol. II, with its seamless blend of jazz interplay, hip-hop-infused rhythms and socially conscious spoken-word. Its integral to The Way We Play, his Concord Jazz debut from 2016, where Hill and his musicians reinvent jazz standards using their generations wide- ranging influences. It marks the four records Hill self-released before November of 2014, when he won the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz competition and became a presence on the global scene virtually overnight. And it defines the revelatory live dates by Hills longtime working group, the Blacktet, which the Chicago Tribune called a remarkably polished, immensely attractive ensemble.For Hill, playing and listening without limits has long been an instinct. It comes naturally; thats the way I hear the music, he says. I came up in a household where my mom played Motown, RBorn in Chicago in 1987 and raised on the citys culturally rich South Side, Hill began playing drums at age 4, before switching to trumpet in the 6th grade. He attended high school at Kenwood Academy, excelling in its revered jazz-performance program, and was mentored by Bobby Broom, Willie Pickens, Tito Carrillo and other Chicago greats through the Ravinia Jazz Scholars program. Hill earned his bachelors in music education from Northern Illinois University and his masters in jazz pedagogy from DePaul University. During college he made gigs and sessions around Chicago, jamming with and absorbing wisdom from the likes of Fred Anderson, Ernest Dawkins and Von Freeman. Even then, Hill was known in town as a stunningly gifted trumpeter with a soulful, highly textured tone. His sound is now somehow both deeply distinctive and a tour through jazz-trumpet history, evoking the high-drama stillness and space of Miles; the undeniable virtuosity of Clifford Brown and Freddie Hubbard; the groove- savvy phrasing of Lee Morgan and Donald Byrd; and much more.
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