Mohican Blues Festival in Greyboy
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Now In Our 31st Year www.jazz-blues.com July/August 2005 Issue 275 Free COOL SMOOTH JAZZ FOR HOT SUMMER NIGHTS AT PLAYHOUSE SQUARE Dave Koz’ Smooth Summer Night Tour Norman Brown’s Summer Storm Tour Dave Koz July/August 2005 • Issue 275 COOL SMOOTH JAZZ FOR HOT SUMMER NIGHTS Dave Koz July 20 & Norman Brown August 25 Published by Martin Wahl Communications at Playhouse Square Editor & Founder Bill Wahl Layout & Design Bill Wahl Dave Koz’ Smooth entrepreneur. Koz recently cofounded Summer Night Tour Rendezvous Entertainment, an inde- Operations Jim Martin pendent record company headquar- Pilar Martin at State Theatre tered in Los Angeles. Additionally, the Contributors saxophonist hosts a weekly syndi- Michael Braxton, Mark Cole, For the fourth straight year Dave cated radio show, “The Dave Koz Ra- Chris Hovan, Nancy Ann Lee, Koz is crisscrossing the U.S. with a dio Show,” that features artist inter- Peanuts, Mark Smith, Duane group of gold standard smooth jazz views and music (the show currently Verh and Ron Weinstock. musicians, taking his “Smooth Sum- runs in approximately 120 markets). Distribution Jason Devine mer Night Tour” to more than 25 cit- He also anchors, “Dave Koz in the ICON Distribution ies. Morning,” a daily morning radio show The State Theatre at Playhouse on KTWV, the 5th ranked station in Check out our new, updated web Square Center will be one of those the Los Angeles market. page. Now you can search for CD stops on Wednesday, July 20. This Koz serves as Global Ambassa- Reviews by artists, Titles, Record year’s lineup features R&B vocalist dor for the Starlight Children’s Foun- Labels or JBR Writers. Twelve years Jeffrey Osborne, contemporary jazz of reviews are up and we’ll be going dation. He recently completed a four- all the way back to 1974! guitarist Marc Antoine and multi-in- year term with the Grammy Founda- strumentalist Praful. tion Artists Committee, a nonprofit Address all Correspondence to.... With the release of his 2003 arm of the National Academy of Re- Jazz & Blues Report Capitol Records album cording Arts & Science dedicated to 19885 Detroit Road # 320 Saxophonic, Grammy nominated Rocky River, Ohio 44116 preserving America’s rich cultural saxophonist and composer Dave legacy and bringing music into Main Office ...... 216.651.0626 Koz continued his reputation as one schools. Editor's Desk ... 440.331.1930 of the most expressive voices in the Born and raised in L.A.’s San [email protected] contemporary musical pantheon. Fernando Valley, Koz initially picked Web .................. www.jazz-blues.com It’s been over 15 years since up the saxophone as a means of gain- Copyright © 2005 Martin-Wahl Communications Inc. Koz exploded onto the Los Angeles ing entry into his big brother’s band. music scene as an in-demand tour- No portion of this publication may be But what began as a ploy became a ing saxophonist with Richard Marx, reproduced without written permission lifelong obsession. Years later, after Jeff Lorber and Bobby Caldwell. from the publisher. All rights Reserved. earning his major in mass communi- Since then, Koz has established cations from UCLA, Koz decided to Jazz Report was founded in Buffalo New himself as a world-renowned saxo- make a go of becoming a professional York in March of 1974 and began in Cleve- phone player, a multi-million selling musician. land in April of 1978. We are subsidized solo recording artist, humanitarian, Within weeks of that decision, he solely through advertisement and ask that syndicated radio host and instru- was recruited as a touring member of you support our advertisers. mental music advocate. Bobby Caldwell’s band. It was during The growing list of artists he has a W division of this time that Koz befriended artin-Wahl played with bears testament to his keyboardist Jeff Lorber, who invited c o m m u n i c a t i o n s talent – a list including such musi- Koz to come play on one of his tours. cal luminaries as Burt Bacharach, That stint was followed by a 14 month Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Celine tour with pop singer Richard Marx. Dion, Kenny Loggins, U2, Luther Signed to Capitol Records on the "Buffalonious" Vandross, Vanessa Williams, Be Be strength of a Lorber-produced demo Original mascot from Winans and others. He is the recipi- recording, Koz released his self-titled the ent of numerous nominations and solo debut album in 1990 – the first Buffalo Jazz Report honors from prestigious organiza- in a continuing body of best-selling days – mid '70s tions such as The Recording Acad- works, including Lucky Man (1993), emy (Grammy Awards), the NAACP Off The Beaten Path (1996), two holi- Created by (Image Awards) and Oasis (Smooth day-themed albums, December Christine Engla Eber Jazz Awards). Makes Me Feel This Way (1997) and Watch for new t-shirts bearing his image–coming soon! Now Koz has added yet another Dave Koz & Friends – A Smooth Jazz distinction to his resumé – that of Christmas (2001) and a various art- PAGE TWO July/August 2005 • Issue 275 ist compilation, Golden Slumbers: A Norman Brown’s singing,” he reveals, “so most of the Father’s Lullaby (released on Ren- Summer Storm Tour songs I wrote had that purpose in mind. dezvous Entertainment 2002). His At the same time I wanted to move gold-certified fifth album The Dance at State Theatre August 25 deeper into the R&B grooves that I’d (1999) spawned no less than five Top been exploring both on stage and in 5 contemporary jazz hits. Guitarist NBorman Brown will be the studio. I was interested, more than Now, with Saxophonic, Koz has playing at Playhouse Square on Au- anything, in giving the music the space created the most adventurous and gust 25 as part of his Summer Storm to evolve.” That intent got a powerful sax-intensive recording of his career Tour, which also stars Peabo Bryson, boost with a 2002 Grammy for Just – a fusion of R&B, funk, jazz and Brenda Russell and Everette Harp. Chillin’ as Best Pop Instrumental. “It pop, with detours into hip hop instru- Brown’s love affair with music be- was a tremendous affirmation,” Brown mentalism, bebop, electronica and gan at the age of eight in Kansas City. acknowledges. “I knew I was heading African folk. It was there that Brown first heard the in the right direction.” With a triumphant performing mind-blowing brilliance of Jimi Hendrix Tickets for the Norman Brown’s career, an independent record com- and became determined to make the Summer Storm Tour concert with pany, a radio show and the respect guitar his life. The obligatory garage Peabo Bryson, Brenda Russell and of an increasingly jaded and compli- rock apprenticeship followed, but it was Everette Harp Thursday, August 25 at cated record industry, Dave Koz’s Brown’s steelworker father who even- 8 p.m. at the State Theatre are artistry, commitment and influence tually introduced his son to the equally $32.50, $29.50 & $19.50 and are on continues to grow. life-changing influence of Wes Mont- sale at the Playhouse Square Ticket Touring for the first time as part gomery and turned his talents toward Office; by phone at 216-241-6000 or of the all-star Koz line-up are Marc jazz. 800-766-6048 or online at Antoine and Praful. Contemporary After graduating high school, www.playhousesquare.com. jazz guitarist Marc Antoine blends his Brown headed west to study at the re- classical training with a multi-cultural nowned Musician’s Institute in Los Mohican urban groove. Angeles, eventually landing a teach- After studying at the Edouard ing job at the school even as he put Blues Festival Paiteron College and the Interna- together his first jazz combo and be- On Saturday, August 20th the beau- tional School of Classical Guitar, he gan playing on the city’s thriving club tiful hills of the Mohican River Valley will performed with a typically varied scene. Adding George Benson to his thunder with the power and whisper with cast of artists: pop stars like Sting, list of seminal influences, Brown had the subtlety of Blues Music. Blues is alive, Basia and Selena, rappers such as already garnered a small but fanatical vibrant and dynamic. The best way to Guru’s Jazzmatazz project and following when he landed his first re- experience it is “live’ and there is not a Queen Latifah, plus acid rock jazz cording contract with Motown Records. better place to enjoy it than at the sev- hipsters the Solsonics and DJ Over the course of the next four years enth Mohican Blues Festival in Greyboy. he released three critically acclaimed Loudonville, Ohio. Aptly dubbed “Ohio’s Multi-instrumentalist Praful says albums, Just Between Us (1992), the Blues Invasion” the fest draws fans from he’s used to “people screwing up my gold-selling After The Storm (1994) all over Ohio and surrounding states to name.” It’s pronounced “praw-fool,” and Better Days Ahead (1996). The its rustic and relaxed atmosphere that is was given to him by an Indian mys- decade drew to a close with a new la- conducive to legendary performances tic and translates to “blossoming.” bel, Warner Bros. Records, and one and a great ‘Blues Experience’. The Amsterdam-based Praful is well of his most accomplished and assured The event features performances by known in European dance, lounge offerings, Celebration, which marked legendary artists as well as emerging art- and crossover circles, and his tracks the beginning of his fruitful collabora- ists with styles spanning the range of the have been played by many interna- tion with ace producer Paul Brown.