# Dave Koz
**Dave Koz** (born 1963) is an American smooth jazz saxophonist, radio host, and entrepreneur from Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley who has recorded a string of chart-topping albums since his 1990 self-titled debut, earned nine GRAMMY nominations, and placed 11 albums at No. 1 on Billboard's Current Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.[1](https://www.davekoz.com/about/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1963, Encino, California[2](https://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/dave-koz/) |
| Education | UCLA, mass communications degree, 1986[3](https://www.jazzweekly.com/2025/05/dave-koz-interview/) |
| First label deal | Signed to Capitol Records by Bruce Lundvall in 1987; solo debut released fall 1990[1](https://www.davekoz.com/about/) |
| Chart record | Nine GRAMMY nominations; 11 No. 1 albums on Billboard's Current Contemporary Jazz Albums chart[1](https://www.davekoz.com/about/) |
| Signature hits | "You Make Me Smile" (No. 20 Adult Contemporary, 1993); "Put the Top Down" (18 weeks at No. 1, Mediabase Smooth A/C, 2010)[4](https://www.grammy.com/news/smooth-sailing-for-dave-koz/) • [1](https://www.davekoz.com/about/) |
| Radio career | Syndicated Dave Koz Radio Show from 1994; Dave Koz Morning Show on 94.7 FM Los Angeles until 2007[2](https://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/dave-koz/) |
| Entrepreneurship | Co-founder of the independent label Rendezvous Entertainment[5](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/2000s/2005/RR-2005-03-04.pdf) |
| Honors | Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; 2023 Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award from President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris[1](https://www.davekoz.com/about/) |
## Early life and start in music
Koz grew up in Tarzana, in the [San Fernando Valley](https://www.edgepedia.org/san-fernando-valley), attending Portola Junior High and Taft High School in Woodland Hills, where he played saxophone in the school jazz band.[2](https://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/dave-koz/) • [3](https://www.jazzweekly.com/2025/05/dave-koz-interview/) • [4](https://www.grammy.com/news/smooth-sailing-for-dave-koz/) He came to the instrument, by his own account, as a way to gain entry into his older brother's band; the ploy became a lifelong occupation.[1](https://www.davekoz.com/about/) His musical education came from his family's record collection: his brother exposed him to progressive rock, jazz, [Gino Vannelli](https://www.edgepedia.org/gino-vannelli), and Michael Franks, his sister to the horn bands [Earth, Wind & Fire](https://www.edgepedia.org/earth-wind-and-fire) and Chicago, and his parents to jazz.[3](https://www.jazzweekly.com/2025/05/dave-koz-interview/)
He graduated from UCLA in 1986 with a degree in mass communications, having played weddings, bar mitzvahs, and fraternity parties on the side. Two weeks after graduation he auditioned successfully for singer [Bobby Caldwell](https://www.edgepedia.org/bobby-caldwell)'s band, and from those gigs the keyboardist Jeff Lorber saw him play and recruited him for a tour. That stint was followed by a 14-month tour with pop singer [Richard Marx](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-marx).[1](https://www.davekoz.com/about/) • [3](https://www.jazzweekly.com/2025/05/dave-koz-interview/) In a 1992 interview he said he had never planned on a professional saxophone career.[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-09-26-ca-804-story.html)
## Capitol Records years, 1990 to 2008
Signed to [Capitol Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/capitol-records) by Bruce Lundvall in 1987, Koz released his self-titled debut in the fall of 1990. The album featured a cover of Marx's hit "Endless Summer Nights" and charted on the Billboard 200.[1](https://www.davekoz.com/about/) • [4](https://www.grammy.com/news/smooth-sailing-for-dave-koz/)
A run of best-selling albums followed. **Lucky Man** (1993), his second album, was Gold-certified and established him in both pop and contemporary jazz; it featured "You Make Me Smile," written with his brother Jeff, which reached No. 20 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart.[1](https://www.davekoz.com/about/) • [4](https://www.grammy.com/news/smooth-sailing-for-dave-koz/) *Off the Beaten Path* (1996) deliberately stretched beyond the smooth jazz formula, adding folk instruments such as mandolin, accordion, fiddle, and dobro.[7](https://www.allaboutjazz.com/off-the-beaten-path-dave-koz-capitol-records-review-by-dave-hughes/) He also began a parallel line of holiday recordings, including *December Makes Me Feel This Way* (1997) and *Dave Koz & Friends: A Smooth Jazz Christmas* (2001).[1](https://www.davekoz.com/about/)
His Gold-certified fifth album, **The Dance** (1999), produced five Top 5 contemporary jazz hits, including "Together Again."[1](https://www.davekoz.com/about/) • [8](https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/dave-koz) *Saxophonic* (2003) yielded four more Top 5 singles and earned GRAMMY nominations in two consecutive years.[1](https://www.davekoz.com/about/) In 2007 he released two chart-topping collections of standards: *At the Movies*, produced by [Phil Ramone](https://www.edgepedia.org/phil-ramone), spent 12 weeks atop Billboard's Top Contemporary Jazz chart and was nominated for Best Pop Instrumental Album; its reading of "Over the Rainbow" received a GRAMMY nomination for Best Pop Instrumental Performance. *Memories of a Winter's Night* hit No. 1 on the same chart in December 2007.[1](https://www.davekoz.com/about/) • [4](https://www.grammy.com/news/smooth-sailing-for-dave-koz/) Capitol's *Dave Koz: Greatest Hits* (2008), his first retrospective, debuted at No. 1 on both Billboard's Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart and iTunes' Jazz Album chart.[1](https://www.davekoz.com/about/)
## Radio, television, and business ventures
Koz's television appearances led to stints as a band member on "The Arsenio Hall Show," bandleader on "Emeril Live," and host of PBS's "Frequency," with appearances on "Good Morning America," "The View," and "The Tonight Show."[1](https://www.davekoz.com/about/) In 1994 he began hosting the syndicated "Dave Koz Radio Show," an interview and music program carried on smooth jazz stations nationwide; he later hosted the "Dave Koz Morning Show" on 94.7 FM in Los Angeles, leaving that show in 2007, and a year before leaving he took on a second nationally syndicated program with the Smooth Jazz Network.[2](https://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/dave-koz/)
As an entrepreneur, he teamed with smooth jazz radio pioneer Frank Cody and former Unity Records general manager Hyman Katz to found the independent label Rendezvous Entertainment, with artist development as its stated focus.[5](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/2000s/2005/RR-2005-03-04.pdf)
## Concord Records and recent work
**Hello Tomorrow** (2010), his first album for Concord Records, debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart and iTunes' Jazz Albums chart, was named Best Smooth Jazz Album of 2010 by iTunes, and drew a Best Pop Instrumental Album GRAMMY nomination. Its lead single, "Put the Top Down," spent 18 weeks at No. 1 on the Mediabase Smooth A/C chart, the longest run at No. 1 of any of his chart-topping hits.[1](https://www.davekoz.com/about/)
The 2014 holiday recording *The 25th of December* became his eighth album to top Billboard's Current Contemporary Jazz Albums chart, with guests including [Stevie Wonder](https://www.edgepedia.org/stevie-wonder), Gloria Estefan, Kenny G, and [Johnny Mathis](https://www.edgepedia.org/johnny-mathis). *Collaborations: 25th Anniversary Collection* debuted at No. 1 on the same chart in August 2015.[1](https://www.davekoz.com/about/)
During the COVID-19 pandemic he recorded two albums. *A New Day* (2020), released 30 years and one day after his debut, was his 20th album overall and his first full set of original material in ten years; it produced four back-to-back No. 1 hits on Billboard's Smooth Jazz Airplay chart: "Side By Side" featuring [David Sanborn](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-sanborn), "Dr. Norm" featuring Paul Jackson, Jr., "The Closer We Get," and "Summertime in NYC."[1](https://www.davekoz.com/about/) *The Golden Hour* (2021), recorded live in the studio with a large jazz ensemble, was his first full-length collaboration with guitarist [Cory Wong](https://www.edgepedia.org/cory-wong).[1](https://www.davekoz.com/about/)
In March 2024 he released the EP *Dave Koz Does Disney*, with modern renditions of Disney songs from "When You Wish Upon a Star" to "Let It Go." In 2025 he teamed with pianist Bob James on *Just Us*, a GRAMMY-nominated duo album of piano and saxophone only, mixing originals with [Great American Songbook](https://www.edgepedia.org/great-american-songbook) standards.[1](https://www.davekoz.com/about/) • [9](https://www.davekoz.com/) His single "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" with [Haley Reinhart](https://www.edgepedia.org/haley-reinhart), his first recording of the [Darlene Love](https://www.edgepedia.org/darlene-love) holiday classic after eight holiday albums, appeared ahead of the 2026 Christmas tour.[9](https://www.davekoz.com/)
## Cruises, advocacy, and the "smooth" question
Koz has run the Dave Koz & Friends At Sea cruise series for decades, with 16 sold-out sailings to his credit; upcoming voyages announced on his site include the Adriatic in 2026 and, for the first time, Japan and South Korea in 2027.[1](https://www.davekoz.com/about/) • [9](https://www.davekoz.com/) He has performed for multiple U.S. presidents and has worked with the Starlight Children's Foundation.[1](https://www.davekoz.com/about/) • [4](https://www.grammy.com/news/smooth-sailing-for-dave-koz/)
The genre label itself has been a career-long issue. In a 2025 interview he described a persistent bias in jazz journalism against anything "smooth" or contemporary, saying he had been "beaten up by critics" and chose to concentrate on music that expressed who he is.[3](https://www.jazzweekly.com/2025/05/dave-koz-interview/) The documentary *Smooth World*, directed by Mickey Duzyj, follows both his relationship with the word "smooth" and the question of who carries the music forward; it premiered October 21 at the Newport Beach International Film Festival.[9](https://www.davekoz.com/)
The music has continued to find unlikely stages: in August 2025, after a diverted flight left his Summer Horns Tour band stuck on the tarmac in [Boise, Idaho](https://www.edgepedia.org/boise-idaho), Koz and his bandmates performed Stevie Wonder's "You Haven't Done Nothin'" in the aisle, and the video went viral.[10](https://apnews.com/article/f8a0804c9ed64baf011189c0a0cb5d05)
## References
1. [About — Dave Koz, davekoz.com](https://www.davekoz.com/about/)
2. [Dave Koz — Hollywood Star Walk, Los Angeles Times](https://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/dave-koz/)
3. [Dave Koz: A Just Koz — Jazz Weekly interview, May 2025](https://www.jazzweekly.com/2025/05/dave-koz-interview/)
4. [Smooth Sailing For Dave Koz — Grammy.com](https://www.grammy.com/news/smooth-sailing-for-dave-koz/)
5. [Radio & Records, March 4, 2005 — Smooth Jazz section, worldradiohistory.com](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/2000s/2005/RR-2005-03-04.pdf)
6. [For Saxophone Player Dave Koz, an Unanticipated Pro Career — Los Angeles Times, 1992](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-09-26-ca-804-story.html)
7. [Dave Koz: Off the Beaten Path — All About Jazz review](https://www.allaboutjazz.com/off-the-beaten-path-dave-koz-capitol-records-review-by-dave-hughes/)
8. [Dave Koz — NAMM Oral History](https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/dave-koz)
9. [Dave Koz — official homepage](https://www.davekoz.com/)
10. [Dave Koz and his band were in flight delay hell — AP News, August 2025](https://apnews.com/article/f8a0804c9ed64baf011189c0a0cb5d05)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musicians and ensembles › Individual musical biographies › Jazz musicians and bandleaders › Contemporary jazz musicians*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license