For over three decades, the musical discoveries continue for Chicago-born jazz composer and trumpeter, Markus Rutz.
For the most recent 13 years, Markus has been a band leader on the Chicago music scene playing with many musicians in the city and with an emphasis on performing original compositions and arrangements. Applying guiding principles learned from mentors and former professors Richard Davis, Ellis Marsalis and Harold Batiste, Markus has assembled groups for recording and performances that feature musicians from Chicago, New York and his early adult years in New Orleans.
The most recent three years have been years of achievement in mid-career activities of performances and recording with local and national honors. In autumn of 2019, my album Blueprints Figure One: Frameworks was released which had tracks that appears on a story from NPR’s Morning Edition. The album was in consideration for a Grammy nomination last year. Also last year in January an album release concert was played for my New York City performance debut. The second volume of music from the project was released in September 2020 as Blueprints Figure Two: New Designs. Album recognition and reviews were accompanied by several radio interviews and global radio features notably in France and Germany.
Figure one received the high honor of a nomination consideration for a Grammy award. Industry reviews from Jazz Weekly, Dusty Groove and Chicago Jazz Magazine also lauded the compositional, performances and band arrangements from the records.
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