May 19--When Marquis Hill won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Trumpet Competition in 2014, the rest of the world started to discover what Chicagoans already knew: that Hill stands as an emerging trumpeter of uncommon melodic grace, technical command and improvisational ingenuity.
Hill had moved to New York two months before acing one of the most prestigious musical contests in the world, but -- as he's quick to point out -- he was shaped by the teachers, mentors and instrumental virtuosos who drive Chicago's ever-expanding jazz scene. The sound of Chicago issues from Hill's horn, and even now he returns so often to his hometown that many listeners may not realize he's moved away.
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The prize for winning the Monk Competition includes a major-label debut with the Concord Music Group, and Hill will celebrate its release back home in Chicago with an engagement June 24-25 at the Green Mill Jazz Club. He'll play music from "The Way We Play," but for those who want to get an early, here's a track of Hill performing the standard "My Foolish Heart," heard here for the first time.
Hill leads his long-running Blacktet, staffed by alto saxophonist Christopher McBride, vibraphonist Justin Thomas, drummer Makaya McCraven and bassist Joshua Ramos -- all musicians with deep ties to the same jazz city: Chicago.
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