An Interview with Musician Dave Koz

Associated Content caught the handsome and homosexual Grammy-nominated pop instrumentalist as he was tooling around in his brand new Prius. But while his wheels are Begly-esque, any comparisons between him and Begley end there.

"I rented a Prius and I feel in love with thing, I think it is the greatest...It has a lot of little bells and whistles that my last car didn't have, so I scraped the gas guzzler and went with something that diminished my carbon foot-print."

The Los Angeles native has some pretty big feet. The saxophonist wowed the crowd at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards earlier this year, and his Grammy-nominated At The Movies, produced by the legendary Phil Ramone, spent over eight weeks at # 1 on Billboard's chart. Koz's current national tour pulls into Las Vegas for a concert at the Sunset Station Hotel & Casino.

"This is by no means my first time in Vegas. I love the city, but the 200 degree heat! No thank you!"

Regardless of the temperatures, Koz finds the Vegas crowd to be tolerant of any weather for good music. "We have played their many times, and I have to say that the most painful time of day is sound check with the sun beating down. The venue is a great place, and the audience shows up even when it is incredibly hot. They come in droves, and they have a great time. Any performer would appreciate that," explains Koz.

Koz's current tour has had him on the road for the most of the year, but this is his first summer tour since almost 2000. While previous tours have been showcases with many performers, this one is all Koz.

We usually do these big extravaganzas. But in preparation for my new CD in the fall, which is kind of a greatest hit album, we are just doing a Dave Koz show," notes Koz. "We are going back into the catalogue and do stuff from years ago, along with new stuff"

Being solo on the stage hasn't diminished the pressure for the artist. "I am so used to putting these shows together and that there is never one second of downtime. I grew up seeing concerts with great staging and concepts and lighting, and I've always really ramped it up for a crowd. But there is a real lovely quality of having relaxed moments with the crowd, of having dialogue with the crowd. This new tour offers me a lot more spontaneity, with a relaxed quality.

While the saxophonist enjoys his time in Vegas, and in the states, he does have a special international tour memory.
"South Africa, which is as far away from where I live as you can imagine. You step off the plane and you're in the middle of nowhere. But people know your music! 5 thousand people singing along with your music, with your melodies!"

Koz feels as an instrumentalist, his music is accessible to people of all cultures and countries - as well as novices who might just want to check out his set.

"The beauty of playing instrumental music is that you don't have a language barrier. You don't need to know the words, or even the language. Melodies and good music are universal to all people."

The performer came to national attention when he came out in an Advocate article in 2004. Shortly after that, he was tapped by PEOPLE as one of their "Hottest Bachelors. The one-two punch brought only increased visibility and success to the already popular artist.

"Well...I didn't get any dates from the People Magazine!" laughs Koz. "But the great lesson from that whole thing was the exposure. My whole career - my publicist was looking to get in me in People. For a review or something about my album! Then the Advocate article came out and BOOM!"

Along with the awakened interest and exposure, Koz found no downside. "My worst nightmares never materialized. Coming out publicly was a positive wonderful thing. My career got better, my relationship with family and friends got better, and more people have come to my concerts, more people have bought records. It was great lesson that you need to learn. You need to be honest with your life no matter who you are"

David Koz will be appearing at the Sunset Station Hotel & Casino on August 22nd.

www.davekoz.com