Greatest Hits

by Thom Jurek To say that saxophonist and composer Dave Koz knows his audience and how the music business works would be an understatement, and this greatest-hits set is a case in point. Koz has been wildly successful since the very beginning. Strong evidence is that he has been with Capitol Records since his 1990 debut album. Another case in point is that he followed his 2007 best-selling At the Movies collection with a long tour and three more editions of the album, including the Double Feature CD/DVD set. Given how many new fans he acquired during that run, it made more sense to offer this Greatest Hits with some new tracks (for old fans) rather than an entirely new studio set. Why not interest the newcomers in your back catalog? It's smart business. Koz picked tracks from five of his studio records for this set and arranged them aesthetically around new selections rather than chronologically and left the At the Movies album wholly unrepresented here -- another smart move. As a player he has a very distinct sound on the horn, and his method sticks somewhat close to a formula -- synthetic and natural rhythms lay out a well-pronounced beat on the mid- and uptempo numbers as well as on the ballads. His playing walks closely along a set melodic path, with little to no improvising. His tone is closest to David Sanborn's without the edges, leaving his slick, sheeny productions with their soulful elements intact. ...