Longtime Dallas High School Jazz Teacher Ready To Retire
DALLAS (CBS 11 NEWS) - It's the end of an era for the music department at one Dallas high school.
For more than 32 years, Bart Marantz has led the jazz studies program at Dallas ISD's Booker T, Washington School for the Performing and Visual Arts.
"It's the most incredible science in the world. It takes the Holy Spirit to send it out," he says.
The jazz legends on the walls on his classroom walls, sit next to jazz names of today. They are artists taught and tutored at "Booker T" by the school's jazz master.
"So many kids here that have come through this program. who are holding the industry up, people never hear of, but many of them holding Grammys," said Marantz.
It all started on this campus in 1983. It wasn't the jazz era. But for this school, it was the beginning of the Bart Marantz era.
Student pianist Rowan Barcham says passion is Marantz's favorite instrument.
"He wants more than anything else to share this music and history with the next generation," said Barcham.
"We know if we can bring them to their vision of who they can become, the industry of music is going to be much, much stronger," said Marantz.