Dave Koz, who received a 2023 Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award from President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, was born and raised in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley. He initially saw the saxophone as a way to gain entry into his big brother’s band. What began as a ploy became a lifelong obsession. After graduating from UCLA with a degree in mass communications, Koz decided to become a professional musician. Within weeks of that decision, he was recruited as a touring member of singer Bobby Caldwell’s (“What You Won’t Do For Love”) band. It was during this time that Koz befriended keyboardist Jeff Lorber, who invited Koz to play on one of his tours. That stint was followed by a 14-month tour with pop singer Richard Marx.
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Signed to Capitol Records by Bruce Lundvall in 1987, Koz released his self-titled solo debut album in the fall of 1990. This was the first installment in a large 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 two GRAMMY® nominations in 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 12 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 previously unreleased bonus audio tracks, a new DVD and a track-by-track commentary. Along the way, his numerous television appearances led to stints as band member on “The Arsenio Hall Show,” as band leader on “Emeril Live” and as host of PBS’s “Frequency.”
Capitol Records released Dave Koz: Greatest Hits, his first-ever retrospective album, in the fall of 2008 and it debuted at No. 1 on both Billboard’s Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart and iTunes’ Jazz Album chart. The collection featured many of Koz’s smash singles, including “Castle of Dreams,” “Can’t Let You Go” (featuring Luther Vandross), “Together Again,” “Honey-Dipped” and “All I See Is You,” plus four brand new songs. The lead single, “Life in the Fast Lane,” which Koz co-wrote with writer/producer Darren Rahn, spent seven weeks at No. 1 on the R&R Monitored Smooth Jazz chart. It was followed by the Top 5 single, “Bada Bing.”
Hello Tomorrow, Dave’s first album for Concord Records, debuted at No. 1 on both Billboard’s Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart and iTunes’ Jazz Albums chart, and was named Best Smooth Jazz Album of 2010 by iTunes. The CD was nominated for a GRAMMY® Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album. Hailed as “an event record” by The New York Times, its lead single, “Put the Top Down,” spent 18 weeks at No. 1 on the Mediabase Smooth A/C chart—the longest stint at No. 1 of any of Koz’s chart-topping hits. Ultimate Christmas, featuring 18 perennial holiday classics performed by Koz, bowed in 2011 on Capitol/EMI. Live at the Blue Note Tokyo, Koz’s first live CD, was released by Concord Records in 2012 and received a GRAMMY® nomination for Best Pop Instrumental Album.
Koz and his friends Gerald Albright, Richard Elliot and Mindi Abair turned to producer Paul Brown (Al Jarreau, George Benson, Boney James) to help them realize the vision for 2013’s first outing of Summer Horns (Concord Records), which paid tribute to the high-octane, richly arranged horn sections that fueled so many hits in the ‘60s and ‘70s. The album also features trumpeter/flugelhornist Rick Braun, trombonist Brian Culbertson, vocalists Michael McDonald, Jeffrey Osborne and Jonathan Butler, plus arrangements by Greg Adams (Tower of Power) and Tom Scott (Michael Jackson, Steely Dan). Topping it off is a sax-only rendition of “Take Five” with Gordon Goodwin offering his arrangement to the quartet and a new original composition, “Summer Horns.” The album was honored with a GRAMMY® nomination for Best Pop Instrumental Album and an NAACP Image Awards nomination for Outstanding Jazz Album.
Koz’s 2014 holiday recording, The 25th of December (Concord Records), was his eighth album to top Billboard’s Current Contemporary Jazz Albums chart. Produced by Rickey Minor, it featured collaborations with India.Arie, Eric Benet, Jonathan Butler, Gloria Estefan, Fantasia, Kenny G, Heather Headley, Richard Marx, Johnny Mathis, Trombone Shorty, BeBe Winans and Stevie Wonder. The first single, an all-star rendition of The Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love,” beautifully captured the spirit of the season and was a Top 5 hit on Billboard’s Smooth Jazz Songs chart. Collaborations: 25th Anniversary Collection debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Current Contemporary Jazz Albums chart in August 2015 while the lead single, “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher” with Kenny Lattimore and Rick Braun, entered the Top 5 at Smooth A/C and Jazz Radio.
Twenty-two years after releasing his first Christmas-themed set, Koz took a very different stylistic approach on his 2019 holiday album, Gifts of the Season (Just Koz Entertainment, Inc.). The collection brought a buoyant, soul/funk/pop feel to Christmas classics across different eras. The album also included one Koz original—“A Prayer for Peace”—and “It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas” featuring Jonathan Butler, a groovin’, African chant-spiced version of the 1950’s holiday song.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Koz recorded two albums. 2020’s A New Day, released exactly 30 years and one day after his self-titled debut album, was his 20th album overall and first full set of original material in 10 years. It reached the No. 1 position on numerous jazz charts, including iTunes and Amazon. With an unprecedented four back-to-back No. 1 hits on Billboard’s Smooth Jazz Airplay chart—“Side By Side” ft. David Sanborn, “Dr. Norm” ft. Paul Jackson, Jr., “The Closer We Get” and “Summertime in NYC”—the album proved to be a smash hit at radio. Other special guests on the album included Brian McKnight, Antwaun Stanley of Vulfpeck, Meshell Ndegeocello, Bob James, Marc Antoine, Rick Braun, Jeff Lorber and Chris “Big Dog” Davis. Koz broke new ground with his June 2021 release, The Golden Hour. Recorded live in the studio with a large jazz ensemble, the album marked his first full-length collaboration with guitarist/producer/internet sensation Cory Wong.
With venues shuttered around the world due to the pandemic, Koz was unable to mount the 23rd Annual Dave Koz & Friends Christmas Tour. Instead, he brought the festivities into fans’ homes via a special livestream event. The virtual concert proved so popular that he followed it with a Valentine’s Day Eve livestream. Thousands of fans viewed the virtual events. When live entertainment returned, Koz took to the road in 2021 with the Dave Koz & Friends Summer Horns tour and the Dave Koz & Friends Christmas tour. In 2022, Koz celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Dave Koz and Friends Christmas tour with the release of his eighth and most intimate holiday album to date, Christmas Ballads, and a new all-star, 25-date tour. Dave Koz & Friends returned to the road in 2023 with Summer Horns and Christmas tours. In 2024, Koz will perform as Special Guest at “Opening Night at the Bowl: Henry Mancini 100th Celebration” in June and launch the 27th Annual Dave Koz & Friends Christmas tour in November.
The Dave Koz & Friends at Sea Cruise returned in 2022 with two sold-out, back-to-back voyages to Amsterdam and the British Isles. 2023’s three sold-out, back-to-back cruises visited Spain, Morocco and Portugal while 2024’s two sold-out, back-to-back cruises explored Greece, Malta and Sicily. Cabins are on sale now for Dave Koz & Friends’ two 2025 back-to-back cruises to Iceland, Norway and The Netherlands. Koz recently announced a new cruise brand – SOMMA – which will offer the ultimate in luxury, relaxation and entertainment. Its sold-out inaugural cruise will sail the Italian coast in September 2024.
In March 2024, Dave released the EP Dave Koz Does Disney, which featured modern renditions of beloved Disney songs from numerous eras – from Pinocchio’s “When You Wish Upon A Star” and Mulan’s “Reflection” to “Let It Go” from Frozen and “Dos Oruguitas” from Encanto, a song written by Lin-Manuel Miranda. He’ll embark on the Dave Koz & Friends Christmas Tour 2024 on Black Friday. The outing features Jonathan Butler with special guests, Vincent Ingala, Adam Hawley and Rebecca Jade.
Koz, the recipient of the 2023 Starlight Children’s Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, has served as global ambassador for the foundation for 30 years. With help from his fans, he has raised over two million dollars for Starlight through the Dave Koz & Friends At Sea cruise silent auction.
He has collaborated with many artists over the years, including Burt Bacharach, Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Celine Dion, Stevie Wonder, Barry Manilow, Valerie Simpson, Gloria Estefan, Luther Vandross, Shelby Lynne, Kenny Loggins, U2, Michael McDonald, Rod Stewart and The Foo Fighters. He also hosts two radio programs: The Dave Koz Radio Show and The Dave Koz Lounge, which appears on SiriusXM Watercolors and airs nationally every Sunday. Koz completed a four-year term on the GRAMMY® Foundation Artists Committee and has served as National Trustee for the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS). In 2024, he received an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from the Christian Bible Institute for his humanitarian efforts.
In over 30 years of constant touring, Koz has graced the stages of some of the most prestigious venues the world over, including Royal Albert Hall in London, Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, Carnegie Hall in New York and various symphony orchestras across the country. Koz also headlines The Hollywood Bowl every other Summer season as one of the legendary venue’s “regulars.”
“Music has been such a blessing to me, and we need it more than ever today,” Koz says about his remarkable career.
