Dave Koz & Friends A Smooth Jazz Christmas Tour and Walk of Fame Induction
09/22/2009
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(PR) In celebration of the tour's 12th anniversary, this year's Dave Koz & Friends A Smooth Jazz Christmas Tour will feature a reunion of the original cast. Multi-Grammy nominee and saxophonist extraordinaire Dave Koz will be joined by Rick Braun, David Benoit, Peter White and Brenda Russell on the 21-date holiday outing, which launches November 27th in Mobile, AL and concludes on December 22nd in Mesa, AZ. The quintet will perform hits from their respective catalogues and join together on a variety of holiday favorites - including many from their album, A Smooth Jazz Christmas By Dave Koz & Friends, which was hailed upon release as "contemporary music's premier event for Christmas 2001" by allmusic.com. Koz has also released two other holiday collections, December Makes Me Feel This Way (1997) and Memories of a Winter's Night (2007).
Today Koz will be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The ceremony will take place at 11:30 a.m. at 1750 N. Vine Street (in front of Capitol Records). Capitol released Dave Koz - Greatest Hits, his first-ever retrospective album last September. Packed with Koz classics such as "You Make Me Smile," "Faces of the Heart," "Can't Let You Go (The Sha La Song)" featuring the late Luther Vandross and "Honey Dipped" plus four brand news songs, it bowed at No. 1 on both Billboard's Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart and iTunes' Jazz Album chart.
Lead single "Life In The Fast Lane," was No. 1 on the Smooth Jazz chart for seven weeks. It was followed by "Bada Bing," which hit No. 2, and Koz's latest single, "And Then I Knew," which just went to radio. "And Then I Knew" was produced by Rob Cavallo (Dave Matthews Band, Green Day). Although Koz and Cavallo have known each other since second grade, this marks the first time the GRAMMY-winning producer has produced one of Dave's songs - and his first time ever producing an instrumental artist.
Koz, who wraps up his "Side by Side" tour with Brian Culbertson later this week, has often observed the natural connection between people's love of jazz and their love of wine, echoing his own two passions. On his 2008 Smooth Jazz cruise, he met Patrick Bradley, a fan and President of Whole Foods Market� for the Southern Pacific region, and the idea to start a wine brand was born. Partnering with Vinum Cellars, a Napa Valley boutique winery, Dave and Whole Foods Market introduced three types of KOZ wines last month. Koz is donating all his proceeds from KOZ wines - available exclusively at Whole Foods Market stores in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada - to help Starlight Children's Foundation continue its vital mission. Dave has served as Starlight's global ambassador for the past 17 years.
Dave Koz & Friends A Smooth Jazz Christmas Tour 2009
With Special Guests Rick Braun, David Benoit, Brenda Russell & Peter White
11/27 Mobile, AL Saenger Theatre
11/28 Sarasota, FL Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall
11/29 West Palm Beach, FL Dreyfoos Hall
11/30 Naples, FL Philharmonic Center for the Arts
12/2 Melbourne, FL King Center for Performing Arts
12/3 Clearwater, FL Ruth Eckerd Hall
12/4 Cleveland, OH Playhouse Square Center/Palace Theatre
12/5 Chicago, IL Chicago Auditorium
12/6 Columbus, OH Palace Theatre
12/7 Newport News, VA Ferguson Center for Arts
12/8 Waterbury, CT The Palace Theatre
12/9 Morristown, NJ Community Theatre
12/11 San Francisco, CA Nob Hill Masonic Center
12/12 San Diego, CA Copley Symphony Hall
12/13 Palm Desert, CA McCallum Theatre
12/15 Santa Rosa, CA Wells Fargo Center for the Arts
12/17 El Paso, TX Plaza Theatre
12/18 Sacramento, CA Radisson Hotel Ballroom
12/19 Cerritos, CA Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts
12/20 Cerritos, CA Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts
12/22 Mesa, AZ Mesa Arts Center/Ikeda Theatre
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