Trumpeter, bandleader, and composer Marquis Hill was born in Chicago, Illinois on April 15, 1987. He began by playing the drums as a child in the Dixon Elementary School Orchestra in Chicago, then tackled the trumpet at the age of ten after hearing his cousin play the instrument. As a teenager, Marquis Hill performed in the Velvet Lounge and Apartment Lounge clubs in Chicago and played with Fred Anderson, Von Freeman and Ari Brown, among others. He studied trumpet at Norther Illinois University and then at DePaul University in Chicago. Armed with a master's degree in jazz pedagogy, he won the first prize at the International Trumpet Guild Jazz Improvisation Competition in 2012, the Carmine Caruso prize for solo trumpeter (2013), and the prestigious prize of the Thelonious Monk Institute (2014). Marquis Hill’s brand of jazz mixed many of his influences – including hip-hop, soul, blues, and gospel – into a unique mix, which was apparent on his 2011 debut album New Gospel (2011). He followed that debut with a series of well-received albums including Sounds of the City (2012), The Poet (2013) Modern Flows EP, Vol. 1 (2014), and The Way We Play (2016), which included covers of songs originally by Donald Byrd, Thelonious Monk, Horace Silver, Herbie Hancock, and Carmell Jones. Marquis Hill was also featured as a sideman on albums by Kurt Elling, Boney James, Ropeadope, Greg Spero, and more. Marquis Hill continued to be a prolific solo artist, releasing more albums including Meditation Tape (2017), Modern Flows, Vol. 2 (2018), Love Tape (2019), Soul Sign (2020), and Soul Sign Instrumental (2021).
