Trumpeter and composer Marquis Hill has long championed black life in art, song, and deed, with albums that ask hard questions of its audience and let his steely horn lead the way. With his new EP (Beautifulism) Sweet Surrender, Hill shifts gears and looks toward spiritual transcendence. Spacy and lush, “Sweet Surrender” floats on a R&B groove and guest Zacchae’us Paul’s voice, with lyrics that promise love either secular or otherwise. “Water (Feelings, Emotions)” invites saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins and singer Amyna Love to explore the subtitled concepts with airy tones and deep, well, feeling. Having set that tone, however, Hill then guides the music in a tougher direction. Guest guitarist Matt Gold puts some muscle into “Blues,” which already rumbles with a compressed funk groove and a minor key brood. The two-part “Free” (“1A” featuring rapper Kumbayaaa and “1B” Cisco Swank) shiver with tension only occasionally relieved by the MCs’ wordsmithery. Having cranked up the sweat, however, Hill brings it back home with “Bible Study,” a gentle, wordless hymn that releases the heat and cools us down with acceptance and love. The final two tracks repeat “Sweet Surrender” in demo (with Hill burning on his horn) and remix form. Stretching his musical ambitions and modifying his tone with electronics and chromatic exploration, Hill takes us on the kind of journey most rock stars need two records’ worth of bloat to accomplish.
