MATT COUZENS

Matt Couzens has been playing alto/tenor/baritone saxophone for over 30 years. He holds degrees in music (classical and jazz) from Santa Rosa Junior College (AA 1998) and Sonoma State University (BM 2000). He also briefly studied as a post graduate at Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. Matt studied saxophone with Ralph Carney, Duane Ewing, Ari Camarota, Ernie Small, and Harvey Weinapple. He has also studied jazz improvisation with Bennett Friedman, Jeff Pittson, and Mel Graves. He has toured and recorded extensively.
 
A member of several Philly area band, much of his other work comes from sit-in and sight reading gigs. Born in Germany, Matt moved to Fishtown in 2022. He has played in countless bands of most genres including: Swing, Jazz, Rockabilly, Funk, Ska, Blues, Dixieland, Soul, Hip Hop, Top 40, and more. Matt has been teaching new and experienced musicians of all ages for most of his adult life.

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Matt has performed with Phish, Chuck Rio, Roddy Jackson, Pritam Chakraborty, Shalmali Kholgade, Nakash Aziz, Shilpa Roa, Amit Mishra, Harshdeep Kaur, Rick Stevens, Pete Escovedo, Eric Lindell, Mei Mei, Mercury Soul, Mark Russo, Zoe Keating and opened for bands such as Zulu Spear, Dick Dale, The Specials, Long Beach Dub All Stars, Bruce Hornsby, Christian McBride, Bob Weir, Joshua Redman, Carlos Santana, Sheila E, Macio Parker, The Aggrolites, Rancid, The Scofflaws, Kermit Ruffins, Tom Cotter, Dead & Co. W/ John Mayer Papa Roach, and performed at such prestigious venues as Chase Center, Madison Square Garden, Ink and Iron, Union Square, Lincoln Financial Field, Audi Field,  The Great American Music Hall, Dar Constitution Hall, The Queen Mary, Yoshi's, Lesher Center, National Constitution Center, Sweetwater Music Hall, Francis Ford Copula Winery, The Hershey Hotel, The Phoenix Theatre, The Mystic Theater, Save The Redwoods Foundation, Hermes, Salesforce, NADA, festivals, stadiums, and more. Matt managed and performed in a band for the Golden State Warriors for four years.