Seems everybody can use a little encouragement these days, even two hot jazz stars.

“It’s such an interesting time for our country, for the world and, not to get too big with the concept, but it felt like, at least this year, like a goal was helping each other out, kind of support, support for one another on stage and support for our country and what people are going through, and that’s where the idea of ‘Side by Side’ kind of came through,” said saxophonist Dave Koz.

Koz and multi-instrumentalist Brian Culbertson will bring their Side by Side Tour to the Valentine Theatre for a 7 p.m. show June 28. Tickets range from $35 to $75.

Dave Koz and Brian Culbertson

“I’m very excited to be sharing the stage with him, too, because he’s about 10 years younger than I am, and he always kicks me in my you know what,” Koz said and laughed. “He’s got that youthful exuberance. And when I get on the stage, too, I’m 46, but when I get on the stage I feel at least 20 years younger because it just brings out that super, high-charged energy in me.”

Both artists are fueled by 2008 releases — Koz’s “Greatest Hits” and Culbertson’s “Bringing Back the Funk” both debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Contemporary Jazz chart. That’s a familiar position for Koz, who held the top spot for 12 weeks in 2007 with “At the Movies,” a collection of cinema classics.

When asked what inspires him to write, Koz talked about a recent screening.

“I just went and saw this movie, ‘Up.’ Wow. I came out of that movie theater and was like, that was incredible. It inspires me,” he said from his Los Angeles home during a phone interview. “When you see that kind of greatness and creativity that people put into their projects, that makes me want to be a better musician, a better songwriter, to dig deeper into my own creativity to come up with something that could make people feel that same way in my own way.

“I can have that experience by going to see a movie or by going to a museum and seeing a beautiful piece of art, hearing other people’s music, spending time with my family, which is always an important inspiration, going on holiday, drinking an incredible glass of wine, having someone make some good food — any creativity inspires my creativity.”

The sax man said he’s working on a new disc that should be out late this year or early 2010.

“As an instrumentalist … it’s all about those notes and the sequence of those notes. When you don’t have lyrics to lean on, it really requires a melody that transforms somebody,” the songwriter said. “And it’s not just the notes, then it’s how you deliver them. So it’s that combination of that rare alchemy that exists when it’s the notes and the person playing them imbuing them with emotion and passion.”

The expressive nature of the horn has captivated Koz since age 13.

“Whatever I’m feeling inside emotion-wise, the saxophone is a way of getting it out,” he said. “It can be extremely expressive, and that doesn’t mean just on the romance side. Of course, the saxophone is a very romantic instrument, but it also can be very jubilant, it can be extremely haunting, it can be sad, it can be pretty much any emotion that you put in, it can mirror that and that’s why it’s been a very satisfying instrument to play.”

On the web: visit www.davekoz.com and click on links for more information.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 19th, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Arts and Life, In Concert.
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