Jazz trumpeter Martin Banks was born in Austin, Texas, on June 21, 1936. He was the son of Rose and Martin Buford Banks, Sr. His father Buford, played trombone with great skill in several bands, including Chicago’s King Kolax Orchestra, which included tenor saxophone giant John Coltrane. This was the younger Banks' original instrument, but he had arms too short to play the full range of notes on the trombone, so he switched to trumpet in the sixth grade. Martin, Jr., grew up in East Austin and attended L. L. Campbell Elementary School and Anderson High School before moving to San Francisco to live with an uncle in 1953. He completed his high school education there and received a B.A. degree from City College of San Francisco.

He moved on to Los Angeles, where, as part of the local scene, he made his recording debut with saxophonist Dexter Gordon in 1961 on The Resurgence of Dexter Gordon. While Banks never recorded any albums of his own, he appeared on sessions with Ray Charles (Sticks and Stones), Archie Shepp (Magic of Ju-Ju), Harold Land (Take Aim), Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Freddie King (My Feeling for the Blues), and more. He was hired for Ray Charles' touring band, which took him to New York where Banks made his name as a journeyman musician in the 1960s and 1970s.

In New York, Banks established an astounding résumé that included working in the bands of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, James Brown, B.B. King, Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie, Sun Ra, and many others. He was also in the house band at the Apollo Theater and at Motown Records. Banks also worked with Texan tenor saxophonists Booker Ervin and David “Fathead” Newman, backing up the former on his 1967 album entitled Booker ‘n’ Brass. Among his many recordings and other musical accomplishments, Banks also played on the Broadway musical Hair. For several years during the 1970s he played in the house band at Walt Disney World in Orlando.

Banks returned to live in Austin in 1988. He regularly played at the Elephant Room and also taught music at elementary schools in the area. He became an active member in the local jazz scene playing with James Polk, Alex Coke, Tina Marsh, and Ephraim Owens in groups that included JAMAD, Countenance., the Creative Opportunity Orchestra, and the Texas Trumpets. Rarely heard as a soloist with groups earlier in his career, Banks would, in later years, solo on albums produced by such Austin ensembles as Tina Marsh’s Creative Opportunity Orchestra and Slim Richey’s Dream Band. To the latter’s album entitled Live and Unrehearsed, recorded in 2000, Banks contributed a lovely muted solo on Erroll Garner’s “Misty.” An unassuming musician, Martin Banks was a dependable sideman who always added to any group that called on him for a supporting role. On February 26, 1998, along with jazz saxophonist Larry D. C. Williams, Martin Banks was honored by Austin mayor Kirk Watson who officially declared the day as “Larry D. C. Williams and Martin Banks Day.” Banks is a member of the Texas Music Hall of Fame and a pavilion in Austin’s Givens Park was named in his honor in 2005. Banks died in Austin on August 20, 2004. In 2010 Banks was inducted into the Austin Music Memorial.