“His music crystallizes the hard-hitting, hard-swinging spirit of Chicago jazz.” – Chicago Tribune

Chicago-born, award-winning trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Marquis Hill and his ensemble, the Blacktet, are bent toward soulful post-bop. Their recent music, however, also melds aspects of a wide range of hip-hop, jazz, R&B, soul, and blues. Hill released his debut album, New Gospel, in 2011, followed by Sounds of the City in 2012 and The Poet in 2013. In 2014, Hill gained even further acclaim by winning the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute's International Jazz Competition. As evidenced by 2016's The Way We Play, Hill’s beat-conscious music evokes the spirits of Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis and inhabits the same sonic universe as Erykah Badu, Kendrick Lamar, Sly Stone, and even George Clinton. On this album, Hill fronts a commanding ensemble, bringing his lyrically postmodern groove to jazz classics. A previous performer with such luminaries as Kurt Elling and Joe Lovano, this wickedly accomplished musician brings Blacktet to Victoria for the first time.