Marquis Hill

Trumpeter and composer born in Chicago in 1987, Marquis Hill is rooted in that city’s jazz tradition while expanding it to include soul, hip‑hop and contemporary R&B. Trained in high school orchestras and on the South Side scene, he developed his musical language through Chicago clubs before relocating to New York and touring regularly across Europe and the United States. His victory at the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Trumpet Competition in 2014 was a turning point that enabled him to consolidate his group Blacktet, a laboratory where meticulous writing, pronounced rhythms and spoken‑word interventions intersect. Under his own name Marquis Hill has released, among others, New Gospel (2011), The Way We Play (2016), Modern Flows Vol. 2 (2018), Love Tape (2019) and New Gospel Revisited (2022), albums that explore a range from post‑bop to more groove‑oriented and meditative forms. A fixture on many contemporary jazz stages, he collaborates with artists such as Makaya McCraven and Joel Ross and continues pedagogical work focused on transmitting improvised practices.