Articles

Daily articles carefully curated by the All About Jazz staff. Read our popular and future articles.

IN PICTURES April 4, 2020

Marquis Hill at the Attucks Theatre

Marquis Hill doesn't usually get a chance to play straight ahead jazz standards. The jny: Chicago born, Thelonius Monk Institute of Jazz competition winner combines all genres of music, jazz, hip-hop, soul, Chicago house, R&B -to Hill “It all comes from the same tree. They simply blossomed from different branches." His latest album, Love Tape, combines his own compositions with spoken word by women sharing their thoughts on self love."Before you can love someone else, you must first love yourself." ...

RADIO June 4, 2019

Marquis Hill Blacktet Live at BIMHUIS Amsterdam

By BIMHUIS

Marquis Hill, one of the most promising American jazz players, combines jazz with contemporary beats. Former band member of Marcus Miller. “A dauntingly skilled trumpeter." —New York TimesTrumpeter Marquis Hill leaves a great impression with the way he connects jazz to spoken word, hip-hop and contemporary beats and breaks. In his Blacktet he plays with musicians from his native jny: Chicago. These musicians can improvise on dazzling grooves, but they also translate standards and more obscure gems from ...

LIVE REVIEW February 22, 2018

Brussels Jazz Festival 2018

By Martin Longley

Brussels Jazz Festival Flagey, Ixelles Belgium January 11-20, 2018 The 10-day Brussels Jazz Festival is held at Flagey, an arts complex in Ixelles, which lies south-east of the city centre. It's an eye-catching Art Deco building from the late 1930s, created by architect Joseph Diongre. This former radio and television studio has the look of a steamship, illuminated from inside with mood lighting glowing through its windows, in different hues for different ...

ALBUM REVIEW December 23, 2017

Marquis Hill: Meditation Tape

By Samuel Stroup

"The universe and us are the same," proclaims legendary drummer Marvin Bugulu Smith between tracks on Marquis Hill's ethereally groovy Meditation Tape. Recordings of Bugulu Smith narrate the 7-track album by Hill, one of Chicago's foremost trumpeters. Hill describes the short record as a “beat tape," and it plays that way, a divine hip-hop vibe always present. Hill's horn--reverb-ed, delayed and multiplied--acts as the MC, freestyling post-bop-influenced verses over the rhythm section's insistent grooves. Hill's smooth tone and ...

IN PICTURES November 9, 2017

Duck Jazz Festival 2017

By Mark Robbins

The average early October temperature in Duck, NC is in the low to mid 70s, extremely comfortable for an outdoor jazz festival. Add to that the seasonal tourists have all gone home and the summer population of 20,000 is reduced to between 300 and 400 year round residents. Except this past October 8 the thermometer reached close to 90 with what felt like 100% humidity. That didn't stop an overflowing audience from attending this one day non-ticketed festival featuring national, ...

LIVE REVIEW September 6, 2017

Marquis Hill Blacktet at Scullers Jazz Club

By Nat Seelen

Marquis Hill Blacktet Scullers Jazz Club Boston, MA August 26, 2017 We have a few places to stop and hear someone sling a horn in Boston, but Scullers Jazz Club has long been one of the best. It has better acoustics than the Regattabar, better drinks than the BPC, and what may be the most consistently excellent schedule in town. They only book Thursday through Saturday, but they're hosting the Dizzy Gillespie ...

IN PICTURES August 20, 2017

The Marquis Hill Project at MoMA

By Adrien H. Tillmann

Marquis Hill, a native of Chicago, is a highly skilled musician with a bent toward soulful post-bop. He holds degrees in music from Northern Illinois University and DePaul University. In 2014 he won the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute International Jazz Competition. He has performed with a wide array of artists, including Marcus Miller, Benny Golson, and Rodney Whitaker. His recent concert at MoMA included included Joel Ross (vibraphone), Chris Smith (bass), and Jonathan Barber (drums). Sunday, July 16 ...