Just Koz: smooth-jazz golden boy Dave Koz comes out--fresh off his adventurous new album, Saxophonic.Dave Koz Dave Koz (March 27, 1963) is an American jazz saxophonist. He often draws comparisons to another well-known saxophonist, David Sanborn. Because the two sound almost alike, Koz is sometimes billed as "the second coming of Sanborn". is a lucky man. For one thing, the guy has never had a real job. The smooth-jazz star has always earned his keep, and then some, through his nimble-fingered command of the saxophone saxophone, musical instrument invented in the 1840s by Adolphe Sax. Although it uses the single reed of the clarinet family, it has a conical tube and is made of metal. , from playing weddings and bar mitzvahs Bar Mitzvah (bärmĭts`və) [Aramaic,=son of the Commandment], Jewish ceremony in which the young male is initiated into the religious community, according to tradition at the age of 13 years and a day. in his older brother's band in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. , to touring the world right out of college with Richard Marx, to going gold with just his second record, 1993's aptly titled Lucky Man. And yet ... Despite all his success--don't forget the perennially sold-out Christmas concerts or the internationally syndicated radio show or Saxophonic, the new album that's already caught a Grammy nomination--Koz felt like there was a piece missing in his particular puzzle. He hadn't come out. "It's a big deal, and it's not a big deal," he says at a serene tonic-and-tea joint in West Hollywood West Hollywood A community of southern California northeast of Beverly Hills. It is mainly residential. Population: 36,600. . "For the most part, I've been out in my personal life and even in my professional life to a certain degree." But it was that last step that kept the ever-youthful Koz (who spoke with The Advocate days before his 41st birthday) at bay until now. Did you always know you wanted to be a professional musician? The reason I chose the saxophone was because of my brother. The only way that I could be in [his] band was to play that instrument, because all the other instruments were taken. I said, All right, saxophone it is! I'd never played before. I didn't really feel like I had a lot of musical aptitude until I picked up the sax. It's really like funding another part of my body. It was an extension of me immediately. But I never entertained the idea of being a professional until I graduated from UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX , because, the truth is, I'm a very shy guy. I was very happy being the side man growing up. It was probably having to do with what was going on inside of me. I was just happy to blend in Verb 1. blend in - blend or harmonize; "This flavor will blend with those in your dish"; "This sofa won't go with the chairs" blend, go fit, go - be the right size or shape; fit correctly or as desired; "This piece won't fit into the puzzle" , you know? Not really be this guy who wanted to stick out. Does it bother you that some people think of "light" jazz as if it's Diet Coke Diet Coke (sometimes known as Diet Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Light or Coke Light) is a sugar-free soft drink produced and distributed by The Coca-Cola Company. , like a more palatable pal·at·a·ble adj. 1. Acceptable to the taste; sufficiently agreeable in flavor to be eaten. 2. Acceptable or agreeable to the mind or sensibilities: a palatable solution to the problem. version of jazz for the masses? It used to bother me terribly, but I let it go. I found that as long as I was malting the music for me, [music] that was inside of my heart and was uniquely me, then people can say what they want [about] smooth jazz This article has multiple issues: * Its quality may be compromised by peacock terms. * Its neutrality is disputed. * It needs additional references or sources for verification. , or pop instrumental, or light jazz, to use your term--which I hate, by the way. If you listen to my music, it's really not that much jazz. I play the saxophone, and that's why people equate it with jazz, but it's really pop, R&B music with a saxophone melody instead of somebody singing. I totally get that. We have never had any credibility, our genre of music. But credibility is an important issue. Credibility is one of the main reasons why I feel like now is the time to bring [my sexuality] to my music, to my professional life. My road manager for 10 years--he's like my older brother, my sage, my guru, if you will--passed away this last year from cancer. A few days before he passed away, I was telling him that I was contemplating [coming out], and he said, "Credibility can only be achieved when you find truth in yourself." He just said it, and I was like, OK, I gotta write that down. And it's true. This is about being truthful, about authenticity. Musically speaking, some of the critics don't find authenticity in the music, but it's coming front a truthful place. That's quite a coming-out pep talk. It's interesting, because my commitment right now to putting all the cards on the table Cards on the Table is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in November 1936 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence. , professionally speaking, is a commitment to myself to write a new script. I realized that this 10-year-old boy--I'm talking about me--wrote my life script. OK, this is a part of me, but I'm just going to keep it dormant. I'm just going to push it down, push it away, and I'm going to be able to fill that void with other things. And you wanted to change it. I realized within the last couple of years that I'm still living right now with this script that that 10-year-old boy wrote for me, and there's no reason to do it anymore. I'm an adult; I'm 40 years old; I can write a new script. There's no reason I have to do it; there's nobody holding a gun to my head, but I feel like in order for me to get to the next plateau--of whatever that is, I have no idea; that's part of the excitement too--[coming out publicly] is an important stage. I've had a lot of success. I wouldn't trade anything in my life that's gotten me to this point, but I'm ready I'm Ready is the double platinum second release from R&B singer Tevin Campbell. I'm Ready yielded the biggest R&B hit of his career the #1 R&B smash "Can We Talk", and produce 3 more successful hits in "I'm Ready", "Always In My Heart" and "Don't Say Goodbye Girl". to open that next chapter. Well, the traditional jazz world has been known to be homophobic ho·mo·pho·bi·a n. 1. Fear of or contempt for lesbians and gay men. 2. Behavior based on such a feeling. [homo(sexual) + -phobia. . Did that in any way play into your decision to pursue smooth jazz instead? No. I studied traditional jazz. I took improvisational lessons for a good chunk of time. I studied the solos and the style of Charlie Parker Noun 1. Charlie Parker - United States saxophonist and leader of the bop style of jazz (1920-1955) Bird Parker, Charles Christopher Parker, Parker, Yardbird Parker and John Coltrane “Coltrane” redirects here. For other uses, see Coltrane (disambiguation). John William Coltrane (September 23 1926 – July 17 1967), nicknamed Trane, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. and Sonny Rollins Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7 1930 in New York City) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins' long, prolific career began at the age of 11, and he was playing with piano legend Thelonious Monk before reaching the age of 20. , Hank Mobley Henry (Hank) Mobley (July 7, 1930 – May 30, 1986) was an American hard bop and soul jazz tenor saxophonist and composer. Mobley was described by Leonard Feather as the "middleweight champion of the tenor saxophone", a metaphor used to describe his tone that was neither as , Dexter Gordon Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923–April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, and an Academy Award-nominated actor. He is considered one of the first bebop tenor players. . And while I could play it, I never felt it in my heart as a musician. I was much more influenced by the David Sanborns For other persons named David Sanborn, see David Sanborn (disambiguation). David Sanborn (born July 30, 1945) is an American alto saxophonist, most commonly associated with radio-friendly smooth jazz and pop-jazz fusion. and the Tom Scotts Tom Scott may refer to:
What about the music business in general? I think that there's homophobia in the music business still. There are still so many artists that have yet to come out. I can only talk about myself 'cause it's taken me 40 years to get to this point. I would never say somebody else should come out. I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. even who it is, but I know there's got to be a lot of people that are gay in the pop music world that don't come out. I worked through this in my brain for a long time to get to the point where I could really feel confident to do it. I've never felt more confident about something. Then here's the big question: When did you know you were gay? The earliest recollection that I can have is when I was just a toddler, and I remember reading the Sunday paper Sunday paper n → (periódico) dominical m Sunday paper n → journal m du dimanche in my mom and dad's bed. I would take the circular from JCPenney or something like that and be thumbing through and seeing the guys in the T-shirts and looking at their muscles and going, "Wow." That's early, huh? Pretty early! So did you ever date women? I went through a period of time; all through high school and college I dated women and had girlfriends. I knew fully that that wasn't who I was, but I still enjoyed it and I got a lot out of it. In fact, one of my most successful relationships, as far as relationships are concerned, [was] with a woman. Why was it so satisfying for you? [Pause] I wasn't ready at the time to deal with being gay. I didn't have the tools. I was in my first year of college, and she was a senior in high school. It lasted for probably close to two years, and, yeah, I got a lot of good things out of that: companionship, friendship. I loved her. I don't know if I was in love with her. I eventually told her about me, and the greatest thing about her, what strengthened our relationship, was that she accepted it. She didn't say, "I don't want to see you again. I want you to change." She was just very compassionate and loving toward me. Eventually, we got to a point where she was, like, "I love you but I just need to know if we're going to make it or not." And I had to say, "We're not. We're not going to make it." She eventually met this other guy not that long after. She got married. She's got two kids. We're still good friends. And I always looked to her as someone who was a very important building block in the sculpture of my life. So who was the first person you came out to? In my senior year of high school--and I'm not even sure how this happened, I must have been very ingenious--I called up UCLA and asked to talk to somebody, and I eventually got this guy, this gay psychologist, who agreed to see me. It was in Santa Monica Santa Monica (săn`tə mŏn`ĭkə), city (1990 pop. 86,905), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1886. Tourism and retailing are important, and the city has motion-picture, biotechnology, and software industries. . I went for, like, six months and had my own therapy. It was completely secretive. Never told anybody. That is incredibly brave. I look back on those kinds of things and I think, How the hell did I do that? And why? I guess when you're young and you have things that are going on inside of you, you've got to just do what it takes. I remember telling my mom kind of early on too and my brother. I ended up fretting fret·ting n. A hole, or worn or polished spot made on metals by abrasion or erosion. about telling my whole family for years and years--I mean years. Finally, I called my family and said, "On this night, I'm calling a family meeting," which my family never did. I was in college at the time. We did meet up that night, and I did talk about it, and it was the biggest nonissue non·is·sue n. A matter of so little import that it ought not to become a focus of controversy and comment: She felt that the matter of her attire should have been a nonissue. , especially with my dad. If I could bottle the energy that I spent for those years worrying about telling my dad--seeing his response, I felt like such a fool that I had wasted all that energy. Did you have similar worries about coming out publicly, how it would affect your music career? I had a manager at a time right when my first and second album [were released]. She was a great manager, don't get me wrong, but there would be these little firestorms that would come up, some sort of rumor about Dave being gay. Her knee-jerk response was, "We have to stomp that out." That took a psychic toll on me, trying to put out the flames. So to speak. Yes. [Laughs] I couldn't actually be who I really was, and I went along with it for a long time, until it was just too much to take, and I couldn't deal with that anymore. I got new management, and there was this great weight that was lifted as a result of that. But also I do want to say that I haven't had--and this is more of a personal nature. [Pauses] I haven't had a real relationship. I've dated people for periods of time, for months or maybe a year at the most, but I've never really allowed myself to have a real relationship, an adult gay relationship. I want to experience what that feels like, to be in a relationship, to be in love, to let myself fully be--it sounds like the Army commercial--all that I can be, or something. I can see that in Saxophonic. You yourself have said that the album represents the arc of a relationship, and sonically it's unlike anything you've done before. I wonder--do you think the process of making that album prepared you to come out publicly? If you want to take it as a metaphor, the saxophone on Saxophonic has been kind of like the musical representation of me. I gave the saxophone the freedom on that album to just explore everything it could be and wanted to be. In records past, I would be very much the judge: "No, I can't do that. That's not me. That's too weird." I took that person out of the equation this time, and I just let the instrument explore a lot of different landscapes, I think, for me personally, it's the best album I've ever made, and also, the process of making it was really liberating. It exposes a lot of sides of me that I didn't know were there. We can't do this interview at this time in history without my asking, Do you ever plan to get married? I think about the idea of falling in love with a person and want to stand up in front of my family and my friends and the state--even though, for me personally, that's less important than being in front of my loved ones--and being recognized for the love that I share with another man. Yeah. That's something that's been a fantasy of mine for many years. I know that there's a lot of different points on gay marriage, but I just have a hard time understanding what the big deal about this is. It's a black-and-white equality issue, you know? "Separate but equal" does not work. This doesn't take away anything; it only adds to the reach of the institution. It's definitely an idea whose time has come. Would you play at your wedding? [Laughs] I played at my bar mitzvah, so why wouldn't I play at my wedding? Absolutely! But I wouldn't want to play alone. Vary also writes for Entertainment Weekly. |
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