Dave Koz (born March 27,
1963) is an American
saxophonist. Because they look and sound
similar, Koz often draws comparisons to another well-known
saxophonist,
David Sanborn, and is
sometimes billed as "the second coming of Sanborn." He usually
plays
soprano or
alto saxophones, but sometimes plays
tenor; he used to occasionally have parts in
which a
baritone saxophone would
have predominance.
Biography
Dave Koz
was born on March 27, 1963 in Encino, California
. From an early age, he and his sister took
piano lessons. "My mom basically forced my
sister and me to play piano from when we were toddlers. I hated
piano; I was never any good at it. But I have to thank her now for
making me do it, because I write most of my songs on the piano."
Around age nine, he began taking
drum lessons,
but notes that he was not very good at drums, "I am the world's
worst drummer. I could not keep time to save my life." At age 13,
his brother, Jeff, had a band that Dave wanted to be in, but his
brother told him over and over that there was no way he could be in
it. Dave eventually wore him down, and his brother told him that
the only way he could be in the band was if he could play the
saxophone, because their band did not have
a saxophonist. That was all he needed to hear. Two years later, he
was in the band and working
gigs with the band
and by himself.
Dave
attended William
Howard Taft High School in Woodland
Hills
, performing on saxophone as a member of the school
jazz band. He later graduated from UCLA
with a
degree in mass communications in
1986, and only weeks after his graduation, decided to make a go of
becoming a professional musician.
Within weeks of that decision, he was recruited as a member of
Bobby Caldwell's tour. For the rest
of the 1980s, Koz served as a
session
musician in several bands, toured with artists such as
Jeff Lorber &
Richard Marx, and played in the house band of
CBS' short-lived
The Pat Sajak Show, with
Tom Scott as
bandleader.
In 1990,
Koz decided to pursue a solo career, and began recording for
Capitol
Records
. The move proved to be successful, and his
self-titled album earned high praise from critics and fans alike.
His later albums include
Lucky Man,
The Dance,
and
Saxophonic.
Saxophonic was nominated for both
a
Grammy Award and an
NAACP Image Award.
In 1994, Koz began hosting a
syndicated radio program,
The Dave
Koz Radio Show (formerly
Personal Notes), featuring
the latest music and interviews with who's who in the genre.
Dave
co-hosted of The Dave Koz Morning Show With Pat Prescott on 94.7 The
Wave, a smooth jazz station in
Los
Angeles
for six years. He decided to leave the show
in January 2007 and was replaced by
Brian
McKnight.
In 2002, Koz started a record label, Rendezvous Entertainment, with
Frank Cody and Hyman Katz. One of the
first albums from that label was
Golden Slumbers: A Father's
Lullaby, which came at the time his brother Jeff became a
father for the first time.
In an April 2004 interview with
The
Advocate, Koz came out publicly as a
gay man. Later the same year, he was named by
People magazine as one of
their "50 Hottest Bachelors" in their June issue.
In 2004 he recorded the
Luther
Vandross song "
If Only For One Night" with
Paul Jackson, Jr.,
Brian Culbertson and
Lenny Castro, as one of the tracks for the
GRP Records tribute album,
Forever, For Always, For
Luther. In 2006, he played on all the songs for the
followup tribute album, released this time on his own Rendezvous
Entertainment label, called
Forever, For Always,
For Luther Volume II, which also was produced by Rex
Rideout and Bud Harner. Vandross also appeared as a background
vocalist on the single "Can't Let You Go (The Sha-La Song)" from
Koz's 1999 album,
The Dance.
In 2006, Koz was selected to host a
syndicated afternoon show for
Broadcast Architecture's new Smooth Jazz Network. The show, based
in Los Angeles, is broadcast on other Smooth Jazz stations across
the country. Koz and
Ramsey Lewis are
the only two Smooth Jazz personalities to host two different
syndicated shows during the week.
Capitol Records/EMI's "Forever Cool" (2007)
features Koz in a new arrangement of "Just in Time" with the voice
of the late Dean Martin.
Koz has promoted annual Dave Koz & Friends Jazz Cruises since
2005.
Koz is the host of a weekly half-hour television series named
Frequency put on by Fast Focus. Koz interviews musicians
on the show such as
Earth, Wind
& Fire,
Jonathan Butler, and
Kelly Sweet. At the end of each
interview, he plays along with the musician, adding some of his
saxophone
riffs to one of their hit
songs.
Koz plays a Yamaha silver alto sax (YAS-62S) with a #7 Beechler
metal mouthpiece, a Yamaha straight silver Soprano sax (YSS-62S) or
a vintage Conn curved soprano sax with a #8 Couf mouthpiece, and a
Selmer Mark 6 Tenor sax with a Berg-Larsen hard rubber mouthpiece.
As for reeds, he uses size 3 Rico Plasticover.
On September 22, 2009, Koz received a star on the Hollywood Walk of
Fame.
Discography
Koz performing in May 2005
Musical recordings of Dave Koz include:
Albums
- Dave Koz (1990)
- Lucky Man (1993) (Best selling album)
- Off the Beaten Path
(1996)
- "Live From Trinidad" 1996
- December Makes
Me Feel This Way (1997)
- The Dance (1999)
- A Smooth Jazz Christmas (2001)
- Golden Slumbers: A Father's Lullaby (2002)
- Saxophonic (2003)
- Golden Slumbers: A Father's Love (2005)
- At The Movies (2007)
- " At The Movies", Double Feature 2008
- Memories Of A Winter's Night (2007)
- Greatest Hits (Sept. 2008)
EPs / Singles
- Castle of Dreams, (1990)
- Emily,
(1990)
- Nothing But the Radio On, (1990)
- You Make Me Smile,
(1993)
- Faces of the Heart (General Hospital Theme Song), (1993)
- Lucky Man, (1994)
- Together
Again, (1999)
- Careless Whisper,
(2000)
- Somewhere/Summer of '42', (2006)
- It Might Be You, (2007)
Singles
Compilation appearances
References
- The Bay Area Reporter
- Pack A Picnic And Head For Ste. Michelle's Big
Outdoor Concert, The Seattle Times, June 28, 1991
- Forever, For Always, For Luther,
VerveMusicGroup.com
- Forever, For Always, For Luther Volume II,
smoothvibes.com
- Dave Koz Discography, AOL Music.com
External links
Wikis
Quiz
Map
Misc
Search