For years he was seen as one of the most promising trumpeters, but after Marquis Hill won the prestigious Thelonious Trumpet Competition in 2014, his career progressed faster and faster. The prize won him a contract with Concord Records, the label on which he released The Way We Play last year. On his widely acclaimed album, the Chicago-based talent gives new energy to standards like Herbie Hancock's Maiden Voyage and Monk's Straight No Chaser. With his regular band Blacktet he effortlessly mixes influences of hip hop, spoken word and drum 'n' bass with more traditional jazz sounds. He brings forth his unique sound with a technique previously only used by sax players, the so-called sub-tone. Hill lets the surplus air in his mouth flow into the trumpet, making it sound just a tad rougher and almost human. Although we might do better to say: superhuman.
