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Markus Rutz
Markus Rutz plays trumpet with a bluesy, soulful style and a tone that has been called gorgeous.
About Me
Trumpet player and composer Markus Rutz leads small group jazz ensembles for
public performances and private events. He has performed throughout Chicago
and the midwest for club and venue engagements featuring jazz standards and
original jazz compositions.
Composition, arrangement and performance of original tunes is an integral
element of his sound and experience. Coupled with renditions of jazz and
songbook standards, the originals create an enjoyable, true listening experience in
performance. To date, seventeen of his original compositions have been
recorded. Several of these have been performed by and added to the books of
band leaders in Chicago.
The recorded originals are represented on two studio albums released as It's
Cooler by the Lake and Second Impression. The most recent recording was re-
released in digital format in December of 2016 with two additional tracks. It
received a 3 1/2 star rating in an early 2017 review from J.D. Considine at
DownBeat magazine.
From the greater Chicago area originally, Markus began trumpet study at the age
of 9 and as a music student studied at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a
summer semester at Berklee College and the University of New Orleans where he
graduated with a Bachelor of Arts.