W.S. Walcott Medicine Show

I first discovered Marquis Hill a few years ago when he was playing with Makaya McCraven and his band.  Needless to say, I’ve been a huge fan ever since, so when I saw that he was debuting his latest piece, “As Above, So Below” at The Jazz Gallery, I jumped at the oportunity to see it.  Born and raised on the southside of Chicago, Hill was a member of the jazz performance program at the reknowned Kenwood Acadamy in Chicago before going on to study music education at Northern Illinois University and jazz pedagogy at DePaul University.  All the while, gigging and making quite a name for himself all over town. 

“As Above, So Below” is a group of pieces specifically written for trumpet, cello, piano and voice exploring the “power of thought” and the insurmountable influece which is driven by our internal spirit on our external world.

On Friday night Hill debuted the suite along with Zachary Brown (cello), Paul Cornish (piano), Mimi Jones (bass), Buz Donald (drums) and Doelow Da Pilotman (spoke word). A work in progress, the sextet led by Hill breezed through their set like they’d been performing it for years.  With Hill on trumpet (and various hand haled percussion instruments) and Cornish and Brown on piano & cello respectively those in attendence were treated to a brisk hour and change of virtuosic musicianship.  And while Hill was the first to admit that this was a work in progress and that those of whom would be sticking around for the late set or even coming back for either of the 2 sets scheduled for Saturday night, would most likely experience something quite different, I for one would be quite satisfied if nothing at all was changed.  But then again, this being jazz, it is quite clear that “As Above, So Below” is a living breathing organism which by its very nature will evolve and grow with each performance.