Dave Koz was born in Encino, California, to Jewish parents: Norman, a dermatologist and Audrey, a pharmacist. Dave has a brother, Jeff, who is also a musician, and a sister, Roberta.[3] Although he is Jewish, Koz plays both Christmas and occasional Hanukkah songs at his concerts.[4][5] He attended William Howard Taft High School in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, 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.
Career
Within weeks of deciding to be a professional musician, he was recruited as a member of Bobby Caldwell's tour. Koz was originally a rock saxophonist before he moved to smooth jazz in 1989. For the rest of the 1980s, Koz served as a session musician in several rock bands, and toured with Jeff Lorber. Koz was a member of rock musician Richard Marx's band and toured with Marx throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, which was around the time he recurred as the guest saxophonist on the syndicated late-night talk show The Arsenio Hall Show. He also played in the house band of CBS' short-lived The Pat Sajak Show, with Tom Scott as bandleader.[6]
Koz released his second album, Lucky Man, in 1993. During production of the album in 1992, Koz was approached by the producers of ABC's General Hospital to perform on the show after his track entitled "Emily", from his Dave Koz album, was used as part of the show's soundtrack that year. After his GH appearance, executive producer Wendy Riche commissioned Koz to write a new theme song for the soap. Koz took elements from the show's existing theme song, Jack Urbont's "Autumn Breeze", and merged the chorus notes into a brand new smooth jazz composition titled "Faces of the Heart". The new theme music made its debut on General Hospital's 30th anniversary show, which aired April 1, 1993, and remained as the show's title track until August 27, 2004. "Faces of the Heart" ended up as the third track on Koz's Lucky Man album.
Dave and Wayman Tisdale performing at the Dave Koz & Friends Smooth Jazz Cruise 2006
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 The Dave Koz Morning Show 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.[7]
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.[8] 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 hosts a weekly radio show on the Sirius-XM RadioWatercolors channel called "The Dave Koz Lounge,"[12] which airs Sundays at noon ET.[13]
Koz plays a Yamaha silver alto sax (YAS-62S Mk. I) with a No.7 Beechler metal mouthpiece, a Yamaha straight silver Soprano sax (YSS-62S) or a vintage Conn curved soprano sax with a No.8 Couf mouthpiece, and a Selmer Mark VI Tenor sax with a Berg-Larsen 90/2 hard rubber mouthpiece. As for reeds, he uses a No. 3 Rico Plasticover.[14] Koz occasionally plays keyboards and piano, with which he also composes his songs.
In December 2014, he opened Spaghettini & the Dave Koz Lounge, a restaurant and live music venue located at 184 North Canon Drive in Beverly Hills, California with business partners Cary Hardwick and Laurie Sisneros, who own Spaghettini in Seal Beach.[17][18]
In 2018, Koz collaborated with guitarist and regular Vulfpeck contributor, Cory Wong, on two tracks, "The Optimist" and "Friends at Sea".[19] The two collaborated again in 2021 for the album The Golden Hour, including the single "Today".[20][21]
In 2022, Koz collaborated with singer-songwriter Ben Rector on the track "Supernatural"[22] from Rector's album The Joy of Music.
Personal life
In an April 2004 interview with The Advocate, Koz came out publicly as gay.[23][24] He has been a resident of Sausalito, California since 1990.[25]
↑ Certain award groups do not simply award one winner. They recognize several different recipients, have runners-up, and have third place. Since this is a specific recognition and is different from losing an award, runner-up mentions are considered wins in this award tally. For simplification and to avoid errors, each award in this list has been presumed to have had a prior nomination.
The saxophone is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to produce a sound wave inside the instrument's body. The pitch is controlled by opening and closing holes in the body to change the effective length of the tube. The holes are closed by leather pads attached to keys operated by the player. Saxophones are made in various sizes and are almost always treated as transposing instruments. A person who plays the saxophone is called a saxophonist or saxist.
David William Sanborn is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album Taking Off in 1975, but has been playing the saxophone since before he was in high school and has been a session musician long before its release. He remains popular as a session musician, playing in several albums of various artists.
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B♭ (while the alto is pitched in the key of E♭), and written as a transposing instrument in the treble clef, sounding an octave and a major second lower than the written pitch. Modern tenor saxophones which have a high F♯ key have a range from A♭2 to E5 (concert) and are therefore pitched one octave below the soprano saxophone. People who play the tenor saxophone are known as "tenor saxophonists", "tenor sax players", or "saxophonists".
The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger than the tenor saxophone, but smaller than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contrabass and subcontrabass saxophones are relatively uncommon. Like all saxophones, it is a single-reed instrument. It is commonly used in concert bands, chamber music, military bands, big bands, and jazz combos. It can also be found in other ensembles such as rock bands and marching bands. Modern baritone saxophones are pitched in E♭.
The soprano saxophone is a higher-register variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument invented in the 1840s. The soprano is the third-smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists of the sopranissimo, sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, contrabass saxophone. Soprano saxophones are the smallest and thus highest-pitched saxophone in common use.
Mindi Abair is an American saxophonist, vocalist, author, and National Trustee for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the organization that puts on the Grammy Awards show.
Eric Marienthal is a Grammy Award-nominated Los Angeles-based contemporary saxophonist best known for his work in the jazz, jazz fusion, smooth jazz, and pop genres.
Philippe Saisse is a French jazz musician, composer, record producer, and arranger.
Forever, for Always, for Luther, released on July 27, 2004, by GRP Records, is a smooth jazz various artists tribute album, with ten popular songs written by Luther Vandross. The album featured vocal arrangements by Luther, and was produced by Rex Rideout and Bud Harner.
Kirk Whalum is an American R&B and smooth jazz saxophonist and songwriter. He toured with Whitney Houston for more than seven years and soloed on her single "I Will Always Love You", the best-selling single by a female artist in music history. He was also featured on many Luther Vandross albums, most often playing on the singer's covers of older pop and R&B standards such as "Anyone Who Had a Heart", "I ", and "Love Won't Let Me Wait".
"You Make Me Smile" is a 1992 smooth jazz song by American saxophonist Dave Koz. The song appeared in his second album Lucky Man released in 1993.
Michael Lington is a Danish-American contemporary saxophonist, songwriter, producer, recording artist and a purveyor of soul and contemporary jazz.
The Oasis Contemporary Jazz Awards (Oasis Music Awards) is a United States based award presented annually to recognize achievement in the smooth-jazz music format as well as Jazz Fusion and other sectors of the contemporary jazz genre. The award categories are similar in nature to the Grammys, American Music Awards, Country Music Association Awards. Awards are given for Song of the Year, CD of the Year, Male and Female Artist of the Year. Also, an award is presented to the player of the year on saxophone, piano, drums, bass, or guitar.
A Smooth Jazz Christmas is the sixth studio album by saxophone player Dave Koz. Koz's second holiday album was released by Capitol Records on September 25, 2001. Features include David Benoit, Rick Braun, Kenny Loggins, Brenda Russell, and Peter White.
Derek Nash is a British jazz saxophonist, band leader and recording engineer.
Brian Simpson is an American contemporary jazz pianist and composer. He has released 10 albums as a solo artist, his most recent, All That Matters, released in 2021.
Christmas with Friends is a collaborative Christmas album by American singer India.Arie and American pianist Joe Sample. It was released on October 16, 2015, through Motown and Soulbird Music. Arie worked as one of the album's executive producers with American pianist John Burke and American musician Dave Koz. Sample contributed to four of the songs, but died from mesothelioma before the album's completion. After placing the project on hold for a year, Arie decided to collaborate with other artists to complete it.
Cory Wong is an American guitarist, songwriter, and producer based in Minneapolis. He has released many works as a solo artist and in partnership with others. His background spans several genres including jazz, rock, and funk. He has performed with Vulfpeck, Dave Koz, Stay Human, The Fearless Flyers, Ben Rector, Dr. Mambo's Combo, Chris Thile, Dave Matthews Band, and Dirty Loops. He released several albums in 2020, including Live in Amsterdam, a collaboration with the Metropole Orkest, and Meditations, a new-age album with Jon Batiste. His recent works include two albums released in conjunction with his variety show.
This is the discography for American jazz saxophonist Dave Koz which consists of 19 studio albums, one collaboration album, four live albums, one compilation album, one video album, and 66 singles.
The Hornheads are a collective of brass and woodwind session musicians based in Minneapolis–Saint Paul. They have played on albums and tours for a wide variety of musical artists, most notably Prince, who originally hired the musicians and led to the group's founding.
↑ Matt Lopez, 'Spaghettini Beverly Hills Set To Open With Performance By Santana's Andy Vargas', The Beverly Hills Courier, December 5, 2014, Volume XXXXVIIII, Number 48, p. 4
↑ "Koz Celeb". The Advocate. September 22, 2009. Retrieved August 21, 2013. his first CD of all-new, original material since he came out in The Advocate in 2004
↑ Vary, Adam B. (April 27, 2004). "Just Koz: Smooth-Jazz Golden Boy Dave Koz Comes Out-Fresh off His Adventurous New Album, Saxophonic". The Advocate. Archived from the original on December 13, 2013. Credibility is one of the main reasons why I feel like now is the time to bring [my sexuality] to my music, to my professional life.... I couldn't actually be who I really was, and I went along with it for a long time, until it was just too much to take, and I couldn't deal with that anymore.
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