Markus Zahrls’ personal relationship with music started at the ago of 5 years with playing the drums. At the age of 10 he started to learn clarinet in his local music school. At 16, Markus picked up the saxophone and immediately loved it, and it was pretty much the only thing he wanted to do in his life. At 17, he joined his town’s  the local big band and turned pro at 19. In the 1990s he studied at the Conservatory of Vienna (jazz saxophone) and at the Berklee College of Music Bosten/USA.

 

Markus was a sideman for artists like Kirk Covington, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Clark Terry, Bob Brookmeyer, Bill Dobbins, Concert Jazz Orchestra Vienna, Rounder Girls, Russkaja, Hot Pants Road Club, Waldeck, Andy Lee Lang and many more, touring and doing sessions for many years before releasing his first solo EP in 2020.

 

His EP "Celtic Dance" immediately reached top 10 of Smooth Jazz Listener Countdown with 3 song and gained international attention. In 2021 Markus release his first full album "A World of Bliss" and reached #49 of the Top 100 Smooth Jazz Album Charts and #13 of the Smooth Jazz Radar Charts with the song "Spring is in the House".

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Markus, who lives in the Vienna/Austria area with his wife and his son, says after finishing the recordings for his latest single: „I can’t wait to play this new music live. Playing live is what I love the most. Every time I go on stage I enjoy the deep connection and the energy between the audience and the artist. It creates a magical space where wonderful things happen.“

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After being in the music business for 30 years, „I still want to make the world a better place with my music“, says Markus, „I want to heal it in some way and help the people who are interested in my music to reach a place where there is love, joy and no suffering.“ That’s what I want to express in my songs, and what I´m deeply convinced that music can do for us.“