PHOTO COURTESY OF HONOLULU SYMPHONY
Jazzman Dave Koz has recorded with such artists as U2 and Celine Dion.
The sax man The two-time Grammy Awards nominee describes himself "as just a guy with a sax, hopefully with some talent and doing some cool things with music."
stays smooth
Dave Koz brings his jazz style to Hawaii
By Tim Ryan
tryan@starbulletin.comThat's a little like saying Los Angeles Lakers' star Kobe Bryant has a decent outside shot that sometimes swishes through the basket's net.
Dave Koz returns to Hawaii this weekend with his five-member band to perform with the Honolulu Symphony's Pops Orchestra led by longtime buddy Matt Catingub. But Koz had one condition before he agreed to the gig.
"I told Matt the only way I'd play is if he takes out his alto (sax) and we play together," Koz said. "He said OK."
Koz, 40, and "Da Cat" go back a few decades when the young sax player was just starting out professionally and Catingub had his own big band.
"When I was growing up in L.A. and you were a horn player, Matt's band was the one you wanted to be in," Koz said from his L.A. home. "I subbed a few times and got a chance to play his charts.
"Matt writes the coolest, most sophisticated charts for a big band. I learned a lot from him about arranging."
Known for his smooth jazz melodies, Koz started playing that way before the genre had a name.
Where: Blaisdell Concert Hall Dave Koz and the Honolulu Symphony
with special guest Daniel Ho
When: 8 p.m. today and Saturday
Tickets: $15 to $57
Call: 792-2000"I just followed what was natural for me," he said. "Basically, there was no smooth jazz format then, just some instrumental stuff with a pop nature to it."
While there are no smooth jazz-formatted radio stations in Honolulu, it, along with country music, was the largest growth area in music last year.
"I've always called myself a contemporary instrumentalist, which leaves it open stylistically," Koz said. "But smooth jazz is ... largely instrumental (with) jazzier-influenced chord progressions and more about melodies than playing solos."
Koz's style is an amalgam from playing in top 40 bands, fraternity bands and wedding bands.
"I had more influences in the rock, pop and R&B fields than jazz," he said. "So this music I make came out naturally. I never tried to be anything than what I was."
Koz has been a top smooth jazz seller since his self-titled smash debut album was released in 1990. He has released five more albums, including the Grammy-nominated "The Dance," which remained on Billboard's Contemporary Jazz chart for more than 100 weeks.
He's just been nominated for a Grammy for "Dave Koz & Friends, A Smooth Jazz Christmas" which is up for Best Pop Instrumental Album. The album features David Benoit, Rick Braun, Kenny Loggins, Brenda Russell, Peter White and his brother Jeff Koz, who plays acoustic guitar.
"I had no expectation this album would be nominated," he said. "It taught me a good lesson to not think about it and be pleasantly surprised if it happens."
HIS 15-YEAR career with Capitol Records has seen Koz record with a wide range of artists, including U2, Celine Dion, Julio Iglesias and Natalie Cole. He also composed the theme to the soap opera "General Hospital."
A veteran of television guest appearances and once a regular on "The Arsenio Hall Show," Koz launched a radio career in 1995 with the debut of "Personal Notes," a syndicated weekly show featuring music and interviews with a who's-who of the smooth jazz format. The show, now called simply "The Dave Koz Radio Show," is in its eighth year and is carried on more than 100 U.S. stations.
Spend any amount of time in Los Angeles and you're bound to see the smiling face of Koz beaming at you from billboards and bus ads all over the city. The ads are for his other morning radio show. "Dave Koz In The Morning," co-hosted with Pat Prescott, from 6 to 9 a.m. on KTWV 94.7 "The Wave."
"Radio is a wonderful forum to educate people about music," he said. "We like to put out that positive vibe because there's not too many places on the dial where you get that."
Koz likes saying "we" a lot. He mentions several times that "we" -- meaning he and his band -- will perform in Honolulu. It's "we're nominated for a Grammy" and he enjoys the collaborative nature of music.
"I've never had writer's block because I view writing as a fluid thing, so I don't do it everyday," Koz said. "To sit alone in a room writing is scary to me (but) working with someone else is great because it's easy to get inspired by a second creative spirit.
"Sometimes when you create alone, what comes out is crap and you have to be strong enough to say it's crap. Believe me, I've written a lot of crap, but hopefully a few gems, too."
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