Saxaphone Legend Dave Koz & Friends Smooth Jazz Christmas Tour/Info/Post Coverage (12/08)
What a wonderful night at the beautiful Cerritos Performing Arts Center with Dave Koz & friends for the Smooth Jazz Christmas Show. If you haven’t seen Dave Koz before, he is one of the best Saxophone players in the world. Besides hosting on the Wave (94.7), he tours all over the country and the world and always brings a personable, exciting show. There are many entertainers out there who play well but don’t have the connection with the audience. Dave Koz (photo above by Lori Stoll) is not one of them. His show is very entertaining, welcoming and enjoyable. On this particular show, he brought a fantastic ensemble including one of the best guitarists around, Jeff Golub. Golub (pictured below) is so talented and plays all over the world on solo tours and many jazz festivals/concerts. I chatted with him after the show and he is so down to earth and very personable. Also joining the quartet was Jonathon Butler (Bass player and singer extraordinaire, and Keiko Matsui (world-renowned pianist/keyboardist). The foursome mixed in holiday tunes with popular solo hits and jams with an incredible back up band.
More info at www.smoothjazznow.com and www.davekoz.com
DAVE KOZ – GREATEST HITS DEBUTS AT NO. 1 ON BOTH BILLBOARD’S TOP CONTEMPORARY JAZZ ALBUMS CHART AND iTUNES’ JAZZ ALBUM CHART
Lead Single “Life In The Fast Lane” Is No. 1 On R&R Smooth Jazz Indicator Chart
Dave Koz And Friends Smooth Jazz Christmas Tour 2008 With Special Guests
Jonathan Butler, Jeff Golub And Keiko Matsui Launches November 28th
Dave Koz – Greatest Hits, the first-ever retrospective album from the renowned instrumentalist/composer, debuts at No. 1 on both Billboard’s Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart and iTunes’ Jazz Album chart. Meanwhile, lead single “Life In The Fast Lane” claims the No. 1 spot on the R&R Smooth Jazz Indicator chart. The album, which was completely re-mastered by the legendary Bernie Grundman, contains 11 Koz classics (including “You Make Me Smile,” “Faces of the Heart,” “Can’t Let You Go (Sha La Song)” featuring Luther Vandross and “Honey Dipped”) plus four brand new songs. You can check out some of the amazing highlights from Dave’s career at:
<http://emicat.edgeboss.net/qtime/emicat/davekoz/dave_koz_sizzle.mov>
Dave, who has received six GRAMMY® nominations and will be honored with a star in the sidewalk on Hollywood Boulevard’s Walk of Fame in 2009, will play some of these hits on his 11th annual Smooth Jazz Christmas tour, which kicks off on November 28th. The Dave Koz And Friends Smooth Jazz Christmas Tour 2008 will feature special guests Jonathan Butler, Jeff Golub and Keiko Matsui. Highly respected South African singer/guitarist Butler, guitarist Golub, revered for his unique blend of blues, soul, rock and jazz, and acclaimed Japanese pianist Matsui will perform songs from their respective catalogues and join with Dave on a variety of holiday standards. Rendezvous recording artist Brian Simpson will be the tour’s Music Director. (See below for a full itinerary.)
Over the summer, Koz went into the studio with Barry Manilow, who asked him to play sax on three tracks for his upcoming album, and taped a performance for the upcoming PBS special “Lights – a Hanukkah Celebration.” In the past week, Dave appeared on “Entertainment Tonight,” performed at a fundraising concert for Barack Obama and at the ET-People Magazine Emmy party, and picked up the R&R “Personality of the Year” award for his show on Broadcast Architecture’s Smooth Jazz Network. He’ll wrap up his summer tour this Saturday, September 27th, with an appearance at KTWV Wave Fest at Los Angeles’ Greek Theatre. He then travels to Asia for concert dates in Japan, Korea and Thailand, returning home in time to embark on the fourth annual “Dave Koz & Friends At Sea” cruise on November 2nd.
Dave Koz And Friends Smooth Jazz Christmas Tour 2008
With Special Guests Jonathan Butler, Jeff Golub And Keiko Matsui
11/28 Ft. Pierce, FL Sunrise Theatre
11/29 Clearwater, FL Ruth Eckerd Hall
11/30 Sarasota, FL Van Wezel Performing Arts Center
12/1 Fort Lauderdale, FL Broward Center for the Performing Arts
12/2 Naples, FL Philharmonic Center for the Arts
12/3 West Palm Beach, FL Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts
12/5 Columbus, OH Palace Theatre
12/6 Chicago, IL Chicago Theatre
12/7 New York, NY Nokia Theatre
12/8 Newport News, VA Ferguson Center for the Arts
12/10 Sewell, NJ Commerce Bank Arts Center
12/11 El Paso, TX Plaza Theatre Performing Arts Center
12/12 Oakland, CA Paramount Theatre
12/13 Los Angeles, CA Wilshire Theatre
12/16 Santa Rosa, CA Wells Fargo Center
12/17 Mesa, AZ Mesa Arts Center – Ikeda Theatre
12/18 Santa Ynez, CA Chumash Casino
12/19 Cerritos, CA Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts
12/20 Cerritos, C Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts
For more information on DAVE KOZ and the upcoming tour, contact:
Judi Kerr, Judi Kerr Public Relations
(310) 477-8191
[email protected]
or visit
<http://www.davekoz.com>
<http://www.jonathanbutler.com>
<http://www.jeffgolub.com>
<http://www.keikomatsui.com/>
Dave Koz Bio:
In a career spanning nearly two decades, Dave Koz has established himself as a platinum-selling artist, humanitarian, entrepreneur, radio host, and instrumental music advocate. A six-time Grammy® nominee, he’ll be honored in 2009 by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce with a star in the sidewalk on Hollywood Boulevard’s Walk of Fame. The list of artists who Koz has played with bears testament to his talent and includes such musical luminaries as Burt Bacharach, Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Celine Dion, Kenny Loggins, U2, Michael McDonald, Luther Vandross, and Rod Stewart.
Born and raised in L.A.’s San Fernando Valley, Koz initially picked up the saxophone to gain entry into his big brother’s band. What began as a ploy became a lifelong obsession. Years later, after earning his degree in mass communications from UCLA, Koz decided to become a professional musician. Within weeks of that decision, he was recruited as a touring member of Bobby Caldwell’s band. It was during this time that Koz befriended keyboardist Jeff Lorber, who invited Koz to come play on one of his tours. That stint was followed by a fourteen-month tour with pop singer Richard Marx.
Signed to Capitol Records by Bruce Lundvall, Koz released his self-titled solo debut album in 1990. This was the first in a body of best-selling work, which includes the gold-certified Lucky Man (1993), Off The Beaten Path (1996), and the holiday-themed albums December Makes Me Feel This Way (1997) and Dave Koz & Friends – A Smooth Jazz Christmas (2001). His gold-certified fifth album, The Dance (1999), spawned no less than five Top 5 contemporary jazz hits. Saxophonic (2003) produced another four Top 5 singles and garnered Koz two Grammy nominations spanning two consecutive years.
In 2007, Koz released two chart-topping collections of standards. At The Movies, his lush, romantic celebration of timeless melodies from cinema, spent eight weeks atop Billboard’s Top Contemporary Jazz chart. Produced by the legendary Phil Ramone, it was nominated for a Grammy in the “Best Pop Instrumental Album” category. Memories Of A Winter’s Night, a festive collection of holiday standards, hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Contemporary Jazz chart in December 2007. Dave Koz At The Movies Double Feature CD + DVD followed in early 2008, which featured the At The Movies CD with two never-before-released bonus audio tracks, a new DVD and a track-by-track commentary.
Capitol Records released Dave Koz – Greatest Hits, his first-ever retrospective album, in the fall of 2008. The collection included many of Koz’s smash singles – including “Castle of Dreams,” “Can’t Let You Go” featuring the late Luther Vandross, “Together Again,” “Honey-Dipped” and “All I See Is You” – plus four new brand new songs. Lead single “Life In The Fast Lane,” which Koz co-wrote with writer/producer Darren Rahn, was most added for three consecutive weeks at radio, jumping into the Top 10 within the same period.
Dave serves as a radio personality in two different outlets: on weekdays, as the host of an afternoon radio show that’s nationally distributed on the Smooth Jazz Radio Network; and on weekends, as the host of the syndicated Dave Koz Radio Show, now in its eleventh year, in approximately 120 markets.
As an entrepreneur, Koz founded Rendezvous Entertainment. As a philanthropist, he serves as Global Ambassador for the Starlight Children’s Foundation, recently completed a four-year term on the Grammy Foundation Artists Committee, has served as National Trustee for the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS) and is an ongoing member of the Board Of Governors for the Grammy® Foundation.
Koz is constantly touring, summer and winter, on land and by sea, with a summer tour, holiday tour, and Dave Koz-branded cruise via the Holland America Cruise Line.
With a triumphant career as an artist and radio personality, and the well-earned respect of the recording industry, Dave Koz’s artistry, commitment and influence continue to grow.
For more information please visit www.davekoz.com