Marquis Hill (born April 15, 1987) 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.[1][2] In 2014 Hill won the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Trumpet Competition.[3] He strongly advocates for the education of the next generation of musicians through active mentoring, treating the music he creates as a living art.[4]
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.[5] After his band director, Diane Ellis,[6] 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.[5]
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.[4]
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[7] and in 2014, he won the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Trumpet Competition (now known as the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz).[8] Winning the Thelonious Monk competition also resulted in a recording contract with Concord Music from which Hill recorded his album The Way We Play (2016).
Recent activity
Marquis Hill plays with his own group, the Marquis Hill Blacktet[8] which formed in 2011.[2] He has recently toured with Marcus Miller.[5][9]
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.
1 2 "An Interview with Marquis Hill". Welcome to Vinyl Writer Music. December 28, 2020. Archived from the original on December 28, 2020. Retrieved June 27, 2021.
1 2 3 John Snell (September 14, 2017). "Episode #53 - Marquis Hill". The Other Side Of The Bell - A Trumpet Podcast (Podcast). Bob Reeves Brass Mouthpieces, LLC. Archived from the original on March 9, 2021 – via Apple Podcasts.
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