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Dave Koz is known by many in the jazz community as "the second coming of Sanborn," in reference to the legendary David Sanborn. Kozz has perfected the art of the saxophone over his career and now enjoys scores of critical and commercial acclaim.
Koz started with the piano as a toddler in California, an art that he hated at the time but eventually helped him in his songwriting efforts, he claims. Around the age of 9 he showed interest in the drums, and eventually he moved to the saxophone because he wanted to join his brothers band and that was the only vacant spot.
After graduating from UCLA in 1986, Koz decided to pursue a musical career full-time. He was recruited by Bobby Caldwell for a tour, and he became a session musician for a number of artists such as Richard Marx. He was also a member of Pat Sajaks late-night talk show band.
Koz left the session band scene to pursue a solo career in 1990. He signed a deal with Capitol Records and has released a number of successful albums since then, including "Lucky Man," "The Dance," and "Saxophonic." The latter was nominated for a Grammy Award.
The artist has had a number of successful radio efforts. He began with "The Dave Kroz Radio Show" in 1994, and was just replaced this year by R&B singer Brian McKnight. He also started to host a syndicated afternoon show for Broadcast Architectures Smooth Jazz Network. The show is broadcasted across the country out of Los Angeles.
More recently, he created his own record label, Rendezvous Entertainment, with Frank Cody and Hyman Katz in 2002. The year of 2004 was big for Koz, as he came out to the public as an openly gay man and was named by People Magazine as one of "50 Hottest Bachelors." He also recorded the Luther Vandross song 'If Only for One Night" for a GPR Records tribute album, "Forever, For Always, For Luther." Two years later, he performed all of the songs on a follow-up album, "Forever, For Always, For Luther Volume II."
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