It was Rutz’s delivery on the ballad 'Very Marie' that made me think of Hargrove. Rutz, here, waxes lyrical in a way I hadn’t heard since Roy visited Chicago his last time. And the upper-registered, but serene, expression on one of the album’s two covers, a spritely 'September in the Rain,' also struck me as Hargrove-like.
—Jeff Cebulski, Chicago Jazz Magazine
Just this autumn I've refined my website and am very happy about the newest version. It's easy to peruse the content within the pages and some more features have been added. One feature available is a share button. For any tune or album that you may enjoy, the option to send a link directly to any place or person is easy to do whether within a social media space or a personal email or text. There are free music download options in the “Recordings" tab with more planned for 'Composing" tab that now has sheet music available. The website is altogether easy to navigate and offers more to listeners.
About Markus Rutz
The last few years have been years of achievement in mid-career activities of performances and recording with local and national honors. In autumn of 2019, the album Blueprints Figure One: FrameworksBlueprints Figure Two: New Designs. Album recognition and reviews were accompanied by several radio interviews and global radio features notably in France and Germany. Closer to home in Chicago Markus was selected as a representative of Chicago Music for the 2020 Year of Chicago Music. More recently a live album has been released featuring a quintet performance at Merrimans' Playhouse in South Bend, Indiana. Very soon a new studio album is set for release. Look for the record in mid-February 2023 from JMARQ Records.
