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                            Originally from Texas, Matt Marantz got his start growing up in a musical family. At a young age, he heard the music of Charlie Parker, Phil Woods, and Cannonball Adderly via his father's record collection during the early years of his saxophone studies.

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At Booker T. Washington High School for the Perfoming and Visual Arts in Dallas, Marantz grew alongside like-minded peers and was propelled to learn how to play in ensembles in many different performance situations under the tutelage of then-director of the jazz bands, his father Bart Marantz. It was here that Matt first learned about great musical artists that become the roots of his musical foundation such as Keith Jarrett, John Coltrane, and Sonny Rollins. Some of Marantz's peers at Arts, most notably pianists Sam Harris and Frank LoCrasto, had a big impact on his musical learning and composition style.

 

With the goals of becoming a performing artist in mind, Marantz moved to New York City in 2004 and began a musical journey that has taken him as far away as The Middle East, Europe, and Asia for tours gaining opportunities to perform live with the likes of Herbie Hancock, Michael Bublé, Branford Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, and Jason Moran along the way. Marantz's 2010 album "Offering" got 3 1/2 stars in Downbeat, and a self-released title "Aura" is available on Bandcamp.