Trumpeter, composer and recent Thelonious Monk Competition winner, Marquis Hillwill make his Jazz Festival debut on a program tribute to one of his main influences Freddie Hubbard. Raised in the Chatham neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side, his introduction to music was made by taking up the drum kit in the fourth grade. Upon finalizing his formal education with a Master of Music degree in Jazz Pedagogy from DePaul University, Hill began working more frequently both as a sideman and a leader of his own ensemble, the Blacktet , and will be performing the National Anthem at the Portland Trailblazers’ game the night prior to his concert at the Festival.
In addition to performance, Mr. Hill has been an active educator. He has held teaching positions at numerous institutions including the Birch Creek Music Performance Center in Egg Harbor, Wisconsin; The NIU Summer Jazz Camp; The University of Illinois at Chicago where he was a faculty member for two years. He currently resides in New York City and has four albums to his credit: New Gospel (Skiptone 2011), Sounds of the City(Skiptone 2012), The Poet (Skiptone 2013), and Modern Flows vol. 1 (Skiptone 2014)
“For much of the last decade, Marquis Hill fit the description of a prized local phenomenon.” – The New York Times
Marquis Hill / trumpet
Geof Bradfield / tenor saxophone
Darrell Grant / piano
Dylan Sundstrom / bass
Christopher "TCOM" Brown / drums