Out jazz musician Dave Koz toots his own horn
SUP, KOZ? | Dave Koz, second from left, will perform Sunday with Richard Elliott, Mindi Abair and Gerald Albright at Fair Park Music Hall.
SCOTT HUFFMAN | Contributing Writer
I think first and foremost, if you like the saxophone, you will be very happy,” out sax player Dave Koz, 51, jokes about his music. The musician and radio host will be delivering a matinee performance in support of his most recent album, Summer Horns, at Fair Park Music Hall Sunday. “If you don’t like sax, you might want to think about a different way to spend your afternoon.”
For the second consecutive year, the boyishly handsome Koz has toured alongside fellow saxophonists Mindi Abair, Gerald Albright and Richard Elliot promoting the music on the album, a 12-track collection of songs that serves as an homage to bands with horn-driven sounds.
“The album celebrates the music that made me the musician I am,” Koz explains. “The sound that really captivated me as a young kid was the sound of a horn section, bands like Tower of Power, Earth Wind and Fire, Chicago, Blood Sweat and Tears, Kool and the Gang. Really [they were] the impetus for me picking up the saxophone in the first place.”
For the veteran performer, his hectic touring schedule, while tiring, is a labor of love.
“The part of getting to places — the traveling and van rides to the gig — is a part of the process and can be more of the work aspect,” Koz says. “If you ask most musicians, I think they would say you get paid for the other 22 hours of the day, but the show you do for free.”
Since his first album in 1990, Koz has been a staple on the Grammy lineup, with nine nominations (including one earlier this year for Summer Horns). He has yet, however, to take home his own trophy.
“Those things are hard to win!” he says laughing, explaining how grateful he is for the acknowledgement. “I think that’s the key. It’s not so much the winning. It’s the opportunity to be amongst your peers and to have that recognition for works that you really feel strongly about.”
And it is not as if Koz has gone without accolades. In 2009, he was immortalized on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; his star is just outside the iconic Capitol
Records building and only a short distance away from the Beatles’ stars.
“I thought they made a mistake,” Koz recalls about first hearing the news. “I asked, ‘Is this a joke?’ Sometimes I will stop by just to make sure it is still there.
And I have gone there to clean the star on occasion. It’s the cleanest star on the block.”
In what he calls “the best gift” he has ever given himself, Koz came out in a 2004 interview in The Advocate. Rather than derailing his career, it only got better.
“Around 40, something inside of me welled up that I didn’t recognize,” Koz recalls. “It was a desire to be a whole person. There was a tremendous freedom that came with [coming out]. The fears that we create in our mind are really illusions, because nothing happened. The only thing that happened was that I felt free. It opened me up in a lot of ways that were surprising.”
While music remains his first passion, Koz is also enthusiastic about wines. In fact, he has helped raise thousands of dollars for the Starlight Children’s Foundation (for which he serves as a global ambassador) through a line of California wines that bears his name.
“You go into the supermarket, and each bottle is a completely different story,” Koz says of wines in general. “You can’t say the same thing about Coke or Pepsi or coffee, or pretty much any other drink. It reflects the personality of the winemaker, the grapes and the fact that the formula changes every year because the grapes are different every year. It’s like art in a bottle.”
Another of Koz’s passions is his pricey new electric car, and he is especially fond of one of its entertainment features.
“I just bought a Tesla,” Koz says. “I’m crazy in love with that car. It comes with Slacker Radio, which is like Pandora. You can press a button on the steering wheel and then just say whatever you want to hear — whatever is on your mind or whatever mood you are in.” Has he asked it to play something from Dave Koz? “That was the first test!” he beams. “I’m proud to say it passed.”
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition August 8, 2014.