We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Markus Rutz. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Markus below.
Markus, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?
As a young person I always believed that an early career was my path. This belief became a subconscious from reading about young lions with the Art Blakey band and watching friends ascend in that manner. Today, I believe that the path and forks in road taken became exactly where I am supposed to be and have added to the later professional stage that is my experience.
My professional creative path has unfolded in stages from an early first spark when in my first year of high school at the age of 14. This spark was me picking up a copy of Miles Davis Kind of Blue that had an immediate, indelible imprint in me from the first listen. This was so much the case that it caused me to want to become a musician. I sought out gigs and playing opportunities even forming a band with friends and family before going off to college.
The internal drive was so strong that I graduated a year early from high school and headed to the University of Wisconsin – Madison to study with bassist Richard Davis and then continuing with pianist Ellis Marsalis and saxophonist / composer Harold Battiste at the University of New Orleans. College years were about learning and new experiences while keeping an ambition of an early career in my sights.
Being from the Midwest originally and knowing some of the music scene from holiday and summer visits to family, I made the move back to Chicago after college and another year living and playing in New Orleans. One morning that summer I woke up to music on NPR’s Morning Edition introducing a news segment. It was music of a friend from college on a new album! This both made me happy for him and melancholy at the same time since my year’s long learning and playing trajectory had actually slowed for the first time.
With realities of time, place and circumstance of living in the United States, a few sobering practicalities lay in front of me that included financial needs for everyday living, medical coverage as a young adult, changes in technology and lessening need for jingle studio musicians. Subjects I had not considered before this time. So, for the next ten years I walked down another path of employment and life situation where I did not play the trumpet at all aside form an occasional jam session or family gathering.
One year during Labor Day weekend my sister came to visit me in Chicago to hang out and go to the Jazz Festival. We did some biking up a diagonal street in the city and right past the Old Town School of Folk Music. Knowing that there was a string instrument selection in their store and that my sister plays guitar, I suggested stopping in for a moment. By chance, I saw that there was a latin music ensemble class starting in the upcoming weeks and decided I’d sign up and check it out. This small group class became the new spark that I needed to awaken my senses and dormant musical soul. It was the beginning of a new chapter in performing and that soon after opened another, new chapter of composing and recording original music.
I’ve released six studio albums and a live performance recording as a trumpet player, composer and bandleader. One of those albums has a song title in honor of my mother called “The Compass” and at the time of its release it 2029 was selected to introduced a news segment NPR’s Morning Edition.
Today I am happy in my later career start, feel like my younger self but as a more mature person and continue living with all the passion and love for the music.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I am a trumpet player, composer and bandleader based in Chicago, Illinois.
A modest and gradual professional path opened up for me that started with a move back to Chicago leading to performances in bars and restaurants and eventually in clubs and concert venues.
Presenting originally composed music has become a calling card feature of my performances along with a signature trumpet sound that has been called “gorgeous”.
I now have seven recorded albums under my name with thematic music about Chicago, profiles of people in my life, holiday music and personal reflections.
Live music performance and recorded albums are my core offerings to listeners. Composing and licensing original music are also key aspects of my music company called Rutz Music Works. My band is Markus Rutz & Third Coast Sounds.
Each album is found on my website in digital or compact disc form along with liner notes and photography. Sheet music is also there for some of my original compositions. A contact form is there for performance inquiries also.
I am so happy and proud to have original recorded music played around the world on the airwaves and internet. My music and creative projects continue to evolve and seek to offer listeners and supporters more in sounds that promote peace, happiness and fun.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
Unity & Peace.
It comes back to this again and again. This is the implicit thread that weaves through my work.
A project, a composition or even a live performance may start in one particular direction but gravitates towards connection, people and our collective stories and experiences in our time and place.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
I love to compose and play music for listeners to appreciate.
One of the most rewarding comments given to me is that listening to my albums is like taking someone on a musical journey.
Artistic expression in creating original compositions and performing for an audience are tremendously rewarding.
When the audience is right there in the moment and feeling along with us, it becomes collective moments of togetherness,
Contact Info:
- Website: RutzMusicWorks.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rutzmusicworks/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markusrutz/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb6MZPm9gZSfDpiCi-onG4w
- Other: https://rutzmusicworks.com/more-about-markus [email protected]
Image Credits
John Nicholls Judi Rutz Riccio