I like this guy! Marquis Hill plays trumpet, flugelhorn and writes the material as well. He leads a hip and hip hopping team of Christopher McBride/as, Justin Thomas/vib, Josh Moshier/p, Joshua Ramos/b, Makaya McCraven/dr and Juan Pastor/perc through some sleek and thoughtful bop that has a slight lean towards urban modernity. Tunes like “Return of the Student”, “Nouvelle Orleans” and the title track display some clean and crisp trumpet work along the bop of vintage Blue Note sounds, while the lyrical “Vella” features some wondrous bass work by Ramos. The team gels like a picnic salad on “B-Tune” and the high heeled “The Color Of Fear” has some rich sounds from McBride’s alto. Some poetry is read on the thoughtful “Legend’s Outro” which bookends with the gently urbane “Mary’s Intro.” Impressive treatment of modern and classic sounds.
Skiptone Music