The tour features Marcus Anderson, Jeff Bradshaw, Leo P and Evan Taylor, plus Marcel Anderson with opening special guest Peter White. With five cross-generational horn players, a singer, and a backup band recreating the sounds of the great horn bands of yesteryear, Dave Koz and Friends says it has one goal on this tour: to create the ultimate summer party; it’s all your horn section favorites in one show.
“Given the fact that we’ve got so much craziness in our world happening every single day,” Koz said, “we put together something that allows people to let their hair down and relax and let the music wash over you, to make you feel good. That’s what music can do.”
In a recording career spanning nearly three decades, Koz, whose music is mainly filed under smooth jazz, has worked with bands in genres across the board, like Celine Dion, Michael McDonald, Stevie Nicks, and The Foo Fighters. This is because the saxophone, by its very nature, can coexist in rock, pop, jazz, R & B, and classical, acting as a sort of chameleon instrument, as Koz describes it. The versatility of his instrument, and his ability to mimic the human voice with it, is also the reason collaboration has defined most of his career.
The music industry has shifted wildly since Koz’s self-titled record was released in 1990. Now, anyone with a good idea and a small investment in some recording equipment can get international distribution from their living room. The need for labels, record companies, and gatekeepers of any kind has been effectively wiped.
It’s opened the market up to anyone who wants to make music.
But, Koz points out, therein lies the current challenge: how do you get ears on what you’re doing in a culture where everything is experienced fleetingly?
“On one hand, it’s given a platform to get your music out there to a wider audience,” he said. “On the other hand, I think it’s commoditized music in a way that is unfair to the music, because people are now listening to very short little snippets and moving on, as opposed to really taking it in and really feeling songs from start to finish.”
Even instrumental songs, which Koz typically composes, tell a story. If you’re only getting that story in 30 seconds, you’re not really getting the full story.
Jazz takes time to enjoy. And much of the immediacy of the funky, big brass happening on Dave Koz & Friends’ Summer Horns tour may require a little dancing. But for someone who may only know Koz for his smooth jazz, I asked him what may surprise them about this show.
“It’s just going to be pure energy, pure happiness, pure bliss, because you’re going to know pretty much every song,” Koz said. “You’re going to be entertained by this group of people that has so much unbridled energy that they can’t wait to share with the audience. It’s our mission just to create a very happy, high energy, high octane experience for the concert goers this year, all across the United States.”
Brandon Berry writes about the Dayton and Southwest Ohio music and art scene. Have a story idea for him? Email branberry100@gmail.com.
HOW TO GO
What: Dave Koz and Friends Summer Horns 2025
When: 8 p.m. Aug. 9
Where: Fraze Pavilion, 695 Lincoln Park Blvd., Kettering
Cost: $40-$67
Tickets: fraze.com
About the Author
