Marquis Hill


Marquis Hill is an American jazz trumpet player, composer, and bandleader from Chicago, Illinois. His musical style stems from African-American music, incorporating hip-hop, R&B, Chicago house, neo-soul, and jazz into his playing. In 2014 Hill won the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Trumpet Competition. He strongly advocates for the education of the next generation of musicians through active mentoring, treating the music he creates as a living art.
WWW marquishill.com

Biography

Marquis Hill was born on the south side of Chicago in 1987. As a child, he began playing the drums in the 4th grade, however switched to trumpet in the 6th grade after hearing his older cousin practice her trumpet in the same building. After his band director, Diane Ellis, gave him a recording of Lee Morgan's Candy, he fell in love with jazz. Other early influences of Hill include Dizzy Gillespie, Donald Byrd, Woody Shaw, and Kenny Dorham.
In high school, Hill studied trumpet with Pharez Whitted as well as Tito Carrillo.
Hill attended Northern Illinois University to study music education for his undergraduate where he studied trumpet with Mark Ponzo and worked closely with Ron Carter. Hill was recruited to Northern Illinois University by Carter via the now defunct South Shore Youth Jazz Ensemble. After completing his undergraduate at Northern Illinois University, he received his master's degree in Jazz Education from DePaul University. Upon graduating from DePaul, Hill moved to New York City in 2014.

Awards and honors

Hill is the winner of several prestigious music awards. In 2012, he won first place in the International Trumpet Guild's Jazz Improvisation Competition. In 2013, he won first in the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition and in 2014, he won the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Trumpet Competition. Winning the Thelonious Monk competition also resulted in a recording contract with Concord Music from which Hill recorded his album The Way We Play.

Recent activity

Marquis Hill plays with his own group, the Marquis Hill Blacktet which formed in 2011. He has recently toured with Marcus Miller.
In 2022, Hill toured both North America and Europe in conjunction with the release of his album New Gospel Revisited. The album features new arrangements and conceptualizations of his first album, New Gospel, from a decade prior.

Discography

As Leader

Source:
  • 2011 – New Gospel
  • 2012 – Sounds of the City
  • 2013 – The Poet
  • 2014 – Modern Flows EP, Vol. 1
  • 2016 – The Way We Play
  • 2017 – Escape Lane with Jeff Parker, Joachim Florent, and Denis Fournier
  • 2017 – Meditation Tape
  • 2018 – Meditation Tape
  • 2018 – Modern Flows Vol. 2
  • 2019 – Love Tape
  • 2020 – Love Tape: With Voices
  • 2020 – Soul Sign
  • 2021 – Soul Sign Instrumental
  • 2021 – Everybody's Waltz with Helen Sung
  • 2022 – New Gospel Revisited
  • 2022 – The Chicago Experiment with Greg Spero, Makaya McCraven, Joel Ross, Irvin Pierce, Jeff Parker, and Darryl Jones
  • 2023 – The Chicago Experiment: Revisited with Greg Spero, Makaya McCraven, Joel Ross, Irvin Pierce, Jeff Parker, and Darryl Jones
  • 2023 – Rituals + Routines
  • 2024 – ''Composers Collective: Beyond the Jukebox''

Singles and EPs

  • 2017 – Fantasy
  • 2017 – Coming out of the Universe
  • 2018 – Ego vs. Spirit
  • 2018 – Kiss and Tell
  • 2019 – To You I Promise
  • 2019 – Wednesday Love
  • 2020 – ''They Say This is Love''

As sideman