New Faces of Jazz — Marquis Hill: Trumpeter, Composer, and Bandleader

From his beginnings as one of Chicago’s 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, 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.”

That mission to bring styles together, complemented by Hill’s absolute mastery of his instrument, is a throughline 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. It’s integral to The Way We Play, his Concord Jazz debut from 2016, where Hill and his musicians reinvent jazz standards using their generation’s 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 Hill’s 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; that’s the way I hear the music,” he says. “I came up in a household where my mom played Motown, R&B, Isley Brothers, Barry White, Marvin Gaye. Then I received my first jazz record, by Lee Morgan, and that was added to the collection. … I truly believe that the music is all the same.”

The music on KUVO never stops, thankfully. The nature of these creative compositions and compelling collaborations is growth and re-invention, re-interpretation, and the quest for things altogether new and never heard before.

Jazz Appreciation Month comes along at just the right time. Spring is the time for new life, to replace the giant trees felled by age and virus. Not to put too much pressure on the young artists headed our way, but we’re counting on them to get us out of the grief and negative funk we’re in. Too much death. Too much sorrow. Lost memories and dear friends departed. Jazz folks are ready for what’s next in music, NOW MORE THAN EVER!

In April 2022, KUVO marks Jazz Appreciation Month by highlighting a few of the “New Faces of Jazz,” however you wish to describe this music. Every few days we’ll dig into the shallow catalogs of the up-and-comers who are coming on strong with musical ideas birthed from the soil loosely called “Jazz.”

We hope you will reach out to KUVO with YOUR favorite new artists because honestly, try as we might, we haven’t heard them all. Hit us up on any of our social media channels or text:

• Instagram: jazz89kuvo
• Twitter: @KUVOJazz
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jazz89kuvo
• Email: studio@kuvo.org
• Text: 303.291.0666

In the meantime, KUVO Jazz hosts (and the hosts of other formats on KUVO) will sound a little younger, and a little more adventurous during April. Because we’re depending on the next wave. Join us won’t you?

For more ways to celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month and for more resources, visit the Smithsonian Institution’s official JAM website at American History Smithsonian/Jazz Appreciation Month.

Picture credit: NIU

Stay connected to KUVO’s programs and our community’s activities, Sign up for the station’s Oasis Online E-newsletter today!