06/05/2026
Some very sad news to pass on to you all. The very fine trumpeter, Nick Hill, sadly passed away yesterday. Despite his blindness which afflicted him in his early twenties as a result of diabetes, Nick became an excellent trumpeter and also a well known promoter of concerts on the Cambridge scene and also further afield. His knowledge of the music was vast and he learnt hundreds of jazz standards and composed some fine tunes himself. Never to be daunted by his blindness, he often played up to 5/6 gigs per week (as well as working full time) and would happily travel by himself on the train from his home in St Neots to Kettner's restaurant in Soho for a trumpet/piano gig in the evening and then get the train home, walking the mile or so from the station at 1.00am, with his blind stick as his comapnion.
Nick played at Peterborough Jazz Club a number of times, the first being in January 1994 with guitarist Dave Cliff. The highlights of his playing career were concerts at Pizza-on-the-Park and Dean Street Pizza Express Jazz Club as well as many gigs at Soho Jazz Festival.
Locally he arranged and played at hundreds of gigs at the Elmtree pub and Hot Numbers, Cambridge and mentored many young musicians in the area to develop their own super talent. The great trumpeter, Art Farmer, met Nick a number of times at Peterborough Jazz Club and they had some great discussions together. The photo (by Mark Heath) shows Nick in his prime.
