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Marquis Hill
Jazz Coterie presents acclaimed trumpeter, educator, composer and bandleader Marquis Hill — making a Wisconsin stop on his Midwest Jazz Collective tour.
From his beginnings as one of Chicago’s most thrilling young trumpeters, to his 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, R&B, Chicago house, neo-soul—to Hill, they’re all essential elements of the profound African-American creative heritage he’s a part of. “It all comes from the same tree,” he says. “They simply blossomed from different branches.”
“A dauntingly skilled trumpeter from the South Side of Chicago, he came up through that city’s jazz infrastructure, which extends to the classroom as well as the bandstand.”
Born in Chicago in 1987 and raised on the city’s 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.
“Marquis Hill strikes a balance between merriment and determination — he solos with seriousness and direction but also tenderness and excitement.”
Hill earned his bachelor’s in music education from Northern Illinois University and his master’s 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.
Well before Hill won the Monk prize — arguably the most important jazz competition in the world — his reputation for brilliance was firmly established in the Midwest, as a member of the Chicago Jazz Orchestra, an in-demand sideman and a bandleader. A move to New York in 2014 helped him gain wider exposure and new opportunities — though he frequently returns to his hometown for gigs and projects.
“His genre exchange has the ease of a walk across the street to a friend’s place.”
In 2016, Hill earned first place in the “Rising Star–Trumpet” category in that magazine’s storied Critics Poll. Throughout his journey, he has supported and guested with a who’s who of jazz that includes Marcus Miller, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Boney James, Kurt Elling, Joe Lovano and Hill’s trailblazing Chicago peer Makaya McCraven.
Today, Hill maintains a nonstop touring schedule with the Blacktet, which features such heavy-hitting musicians like vibraphonist Joel Ross, bassist Junius Paul, drummer Jonathan Pinson, and saxophonist Joshua Johnson. This intensely interactive, utterly unique band has become a kind of graduate school for next-level talent.
“In jazz, cities have always had their own sound. And for Marquis Hill, Chicago is the sound he brings with him.”