Hannah Gill is a 26-year-old vocalist based in Bushwick, Brooklyn, who moved to New York City from Maryland’s Eastern Shore. She first gained wide exposure touring with Postmodern Jukebox, but she built her local reputation by performing with ensembles like the Glenn Crytzer Orchestra and Company XIV. After signing with Turtle Bay Records, Gill focused on hot jazz and swing. Her debut for the label, Everybody Loves a Lover (2023), established her traditional swing style. She followed this by expanding her independent project, Spooky Jazz Vol. 1 (2020), into a series with the label, releasing Vol. 2 (2024) and Vol. 3 (2025).
These records featured high-energy, uptempo performances tailored for swing dance floors.With her June 2026 release, I Like the Sunrise, Gill shifts direction. The album is a tribute to Duke Ellington that replaces her previous theatrical style with a quieter approach. By removing the piano and using a quartet of guitarist Luis Salcedo, bassist Phil Ambuel, drummer Adam Ray, and saxophonist Ricky Alexander, the arrangements focus on a conversational, guitar-led sound. This musical choice changes Ellington’s orchestral pieces into sparse ballads, showcasing a different side of Gill’s vocal range.
The rhythm section plays a structural role in defining this new direction. Luis Salcedo’s guitar replaces the traditional piano role, providing lean chordal voicings that leave open sonic space for Gill’s vocals. Bassist Phil Ambuel and drummer Adam Ray avoid aggressive swing patterns, instead using steady, minimalist pulses and light brushwork to anchor the slower tempos. Rather than driving the momentum forward, the rhythm players focus on subtle shifts in volume and texture, adapting to match the intimacy of each performance.
The track choices highlight how this instrumentation functions. On “I Didn’t Know About You,” the performance plays as a close duet where Salcedo’s guitar accompaniment opens lyrically, mirroring Gill’s phrasing to emphasize the emotional clarity of the lyrics while the bass and drums recede entirely. In contrast, the arrangement for “Do Nothing till You Hear from Me” incorporates a relaxed swing, where Ambuel and Ray maintain an understated, rhythmic groove that keeps the song moving without overpowering the vocals. Finally, “Azure” reduces the instrumentation to just voice and guitar, and Gill finishes the piece with a brief whistled section, ending the album on a quiet, atmospheric note.