New Gospel

“New Gospel” is the debut album as a leader by Marquis Hill, a 24 year-old trumpet player out of Chicago. All tracks are Hill’s own compositions. There’s a nice variety of straight-ahead jazz styles here (nothing avant-garde) and some very fine playing. The core group is a quintet with alto sax, piano, bass, and drums; a tenor sax and guitar are added on a few numbers.

All instrumental. No FCC issues.

1 ** An up-tempo, hard bop toe tamper. Good ensemble interaction. Driving drums. (5:53)
2 * Starts slow but picks up. Showcase for alto, then trumpet, then groovy elec piano. (7:35)
3 ** Mid fast. Alto & trumpet each take long improv solos. Guest guitar is nice. (5:25)
4 A bit sleepy. Bass solo starts; sax, guitar, trumpet each take a turn. Nothing special. (5:13)
5 *** Very upbeat, joyful, hard bop with a lot of drive. Walking bass line is terrific. Piano part is a real kick. Hill takes a great solo with muted trumpet. (4:09)
6 * Mid-tempo. Syncopated, tricky rhythm. Quite melodic, especially the piano. (4:33)
7 String-thumping upright-bass solo. Alone it’s not great, but can be an intro into #8. (0:53)
8 ** Slow, sad, beautiful elegy. Just upright bass and very breathy flugelhorn. (3:02)