Trumpet virtuoso Marquis Hill turns the tables on his album Composers Collective: Beyond the Jukebox. He invited close musical friends and colleagues to compose specifically for him, ranging from Chicago luminaries such as Ernest Dawkins and Geof Bradfield to contemporaries like Marcus Strickland and rapper SABA. The album also includes six of Hill’s own compositions. His approach echoes a long jazz tradition in which musicians perform each other’s work, like Freddie Hubbard recording a Wayne Shorter composition or Dexter Gordon interpreting Lee Morgan.

The result merges post-bop and modern jazz with influences from R&B and hip-hop, rooted in Hill’s belief that Black music encompasses a wide continuum of styles that overlap and strengthen one another. On stage he brings the music to life with pianist Mike King, bassist Junius Paul and drummer Corey Fonville.

Marquis Hill trumpet, Mike King piano, Junius Paul electric bass, Corey Fonville drums