Billy Buss, Marquis Hill and Adam O'Farrill made the final of this year's Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz trumpet competition held last night. Marquis Hill, above, won, picking up a $25,000 scholarship and a recording contract with Concord Music Group. Buss was second and Adam O'Farrill, third.

Hill grew up on Chicago's South Side, playing drums at a young age and later trumpet, becoming a member of the South Shore Youth Jazz Ensemble and the Ravinia Jazz Scholars. A graduate of Northern Illinois University Hill also gained a masters in jazz pedagogy at DePaul and leads his band the Blacktet. He has recorded four CDs, and his sideman work includes appearances on albums by the Chicago Jazz Orchestra, saxophonist Ernest Dawkins, and pianist Willerm Delisfort.