Music Lab

The Music Lab takes you on a journey through the abysses and pearls of our society

 
Repetitive Minds
Imprisoned by our own brain
Awaking sleepless though not richer in conclusion
Seeing the change of landscapes
Though not realizing history is just repeating
Unable to see the spiral drowning us in rage
It is up to myself escaping the repetitive mind
What would it be like to open our eyes instead
Seeing things without implementation
Relearning empathy and embracing the thought of agility
following mother natures example
and enjoying a little piece of art
blooming and flourishing to our hearts
 

https://open.spotify.com/album/2skqrTDVZJizDDOIN5DEVV?si=pI31bMxxR7qUDtIp18xaAA

Philipp Rüttgers knows that he is living in a special time. Belonging to generation Y, he tries to comprehend questions such as “the gap between the rich and the poor”, “the environment” and “empathy”. Instead of looking for a straightforward answer, Rüttgers researches for emotions present in our everyday world.
He aims to express the frustrations, uncertainties, and the inner fight between ourselves and our brain, while also showing the positiveness and joy in our lives. While composing Philipp wrote these emotions into music and created a very personal and unique world of sounds for his Music Lab.
Every composition tells a story without words. Titles as “Rage”, “Ambiguous times”, “Changing Landscapes” refer to politics and environment, while “The Agile Mountain Goat” takes a deep bow to mother nature. Artist Probo Guritno from Jakarta interpreted the titles and draw an incredible artwork for the Album. The result is an astonishing album with great compositions.The holland based musicians are Philipp Rüttgers (D) on piano, Allison Philips (US) trumpet, Miguel Boelens (NL) alto/soprano sax, Nils van Haften (NL) tenor sax/basklarinet, Kobi Arditi (ISR) trombone, Tobias Nijboer (NL) bass and Felix Schlarmann (D) drums.
While their first album was a live concert, this time they chose the great acoustics of the famous Fattoria Musica studio in Osnabrück. Esteemed engineer Chris Weeda knows how to capture the warm sound of the ensemble. An energetic rhythm section with beautiful arrangements on top and incredible soloists. These seven musicians each bring their own identity to the music and thus create the necessary friction we experience in everyday life
 

Listening to this record is like looking at Mondriaan’s paintings”

John Bruinsma – Gelderlander ****

You should just buy this album for the artwork alone !“

Koen de Jonge – Jazzism ****

A splashing ouverture… very flexible and constantly surprising, super-musical jazz”

Henk ten Holt – Jazz International Nijmegen Ugenda (NL)

 

Rüttgers wrote exceptionally beautiful music with layered tempo changes and exciting rhythms which remains easily accessible.”

Tom Beetz – Jazzflits

 

Rüttgers music is technically competent and executed nicely through the seven musicians.”

Bram de Visser – Musikmaker ***

“Rüttgers is a pianist with an open mind who, as a player and as a composer, controls different genres and does not hesitate to use all that.”

Vera Vingerhoeds (NL)

 

“the septet shows a nice homogeneity and a perfect cohesion

Claude Loxhay – Jazzhalo (BE)

 

“An album that touches the frustrations of today’s society, which are translated into complex but accessible arrangements”

Erno Elsinga Jazzenzo (NL)

 

The septet sounds like a unit. Compact horns, firmly supported by piano and rhythm section, beautifully arranged with dynamic solos”

Mattie Poels, Musicframes

 

“Narrative and visual compositions. This is what the jazz musician Philipp Rüttgers is praised for.”

Herman Spinhof, Arnhem Watching (NL)