Award-winning trumpeter, composer and bandleader Marquis Hill, widely acclaimed for his soulful, eclectic modern jazz sensibility, is back with Composers Collective: Beyond the Jukebox, a new album celebrating the compositions of others: in particular, a group of cherished colleagues and friends, many of them fellow Chicagoans, invited by Hill to compose a piece for the album with him specifically in mind. In addition to six of Hill’s compositions, the program includes pieces by Ernest Dawkins, Gary Bartz, Jeff Parker, Marcus Strickland, SABA, Geof Bradfield and Matt Gold, as well as the members of Hill’s core quintet: vibraphonist Joel Ross, pianist Michael King, bassist Junius Paul and drummer Corey Fonville.
“I was thinking about the tradition in jazz where Dexter Gordon would record a Lee Morgan composition, or Freddie Hubbard would record a Wayne Shorter composition,” muses Hill. “I started to wonder, ‘When did we stop doing that, playing each other’s music?’ You learn so much playing other artists’ compositions. I thought it would be dope if I challenged myself to reach out to colleagues and have them specifically write a tune with me in mind. I got so much different music back … there will definitely be a second volume.”
This is our Album Of The Week on One Jazz w/c Monday 16th September