His music-making parents put it in his cradle: his talent for music. At the age of five, he hit the drums, at 8, the recorder was added, then the alto saxophone, with which he has remained. Someone like Jakob Manz is perceived as an exceptional talent. At the age of 15, he was already studying jazz & pop at the Musikhochschule Stuttgart. A year later, he was accepted into the Bundesjazzorchester (BuJazzO), with whom he performed in such sound-worthy concert halls as the Elbphilharmonie.

As a bandleader, he won 1st prize with his Jakob Manz Project at the Future Sounds 2018 of the Leverkusen Jazztage: standing ovations from the audience. Further awards followed, such as the Audience Award at the International Jazz Prize Biberach 2018. Since 2019, Manz has been studying jazz and pop saxophone at the Cologne University of Music and Dance. The saxophonist continuously works with his musical co-creators Paul Albrecht (dr) , Hannes Stollheimer (p), Frieder Kleins (e-b) to shape their group sound.

Jakob Manz has worked with Randy Brecker, Ack Van Rooyen, SWR BigBand, Wolfgang Dauner, Paul Heller, Wolfgang Niedecken (BAP), Günter Baby Sommer, Dusko Goykovich, Wildes Holz, Fola Dada, Klaus Graf, Wolfgang Schmid, Soul Diamonds and many more.