Never an artist lacking ambition, trumpeter Marquis Hill came up with a cool idea for his latest album Composers Collective: Beyond the Jukebox. Inspired by the Blue Note days when the label’s artists recorded their colleagues’ tunes alongside their own, the Chicago native reached out to his own pals and peers, asking them to write tunes with him in mind. He then invited them to join him in the recording, filtering their contributions through a pan-musical vision that recognizes all Black music – jazz, R&B, hip-hop, etc. – as one long continuum.
Tunes like saxist Marcus Strickland’s “The OGs (Organic People)” (with spoken words by vibes master Stefon Harris) and guitarist Jeff Parker’s “Pretty For the People” (guest-starring piano god Gerald Clayton) give off a vibe of warm seventies soul, while vibraphonist Joel Ross’s “I Remembered You” and pianist Michael King’s “Smo Melody N Shit” (featuring saxophonist Caroline Davis) exploit Hill’s affinity for uncluttered jazz expression. Best of all are the tracks that organically cross genre lines, like guitarist Matt Gold’s “Shorter Days (Longer Nights)” and Hill’s own “A Star is Born” (with guest wisdom from the late Wayne Shorter), which put drum-and-bass beats behind straightahead jazz riffs, or bassist Junius Paul’s “Life Days,” an Afrobeat atmosphere garnished by Parker’s postbop guitar licks, or pianist King ’s “Two Check (For the Rich and Wealthy),” which rides an old-fashioned swing groove filtered through modern production introed by a sampled Indian vocal.
With Hill’s core band – Ross, Paul, King, and drummer Corey Fonville – as the bedrock, each track still sits comfortably in the jazz tradition, no matter what the extra musical sauce. Thus Composers Collective: Beyond the Jukebox speaks to all of the Black music tradition, while still retaining the qualities that make Hill one of modern jazz’s most adventurous minds.
