Tuesday, July 25, 2017
DAVEKOZ & LARRYGRAHAM Our Mission
Mayo Performing Arts Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, presents a wide range of programs that entertain, enrich, and educate the diverse population of the region and enhance the economic vitality of Northern New Jersey. The 2017-2018 season is made possible, in part, by a grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as support received from the F.M. Kirby Foundation and other numerous foundations, corporations and individuals. As a courtesy to the artists and for the uninterrupted enjoyment of your fellow patrons, please turn off all cell phones, pagers, beepers and other electronic devices. Please unwrap any lozenges before the performance begins. No portion of this performance may be photographed, recorded, filmed, taped, broadcast or mechanically reproduced without the written consent of the Artist and/or the Presenter. Mayo Performing Arts Center is not responsible for lost or stolen items.
DAVE KOZ
jazz hits. Saxophonic (2003) produced another four Top 5 singles and garnered Koz In the 25 years since the release of his self- two GRAMMY® nominations spanning two titled solo debut album, saxophonist Dave consecutive years. Koz has received nine GRAMMY® nominations, had nine No. 1 albums on Billboard’s Current In 2007, Koz released two chart-topping Contemporary Jazz Albums chart, toured collections of standards. At The Movies, his lush, the world and been honored with a star on romantic celebration of timeless melodies the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Reflecting on from cinema, spent 12 weeks atop Billboard’s his extraordinary career, Dave decided to Top Contemporary Jazz chart. Produced by celebrate the milestone with a different kind the legendary Phil Ramone, it was nominated for a GRAMMY® in the “Best Pop Instrumental of retrospective album. Album” category. Memories Of A Winter’s Night, “From the beginning, collaborations have a festive collection of holiday standards, hit No. been a special source of inspiration to me. I 1 on Billboard’s Top Contemporary Jazz chart in wanted to shine a light on that process and December 2007. Dave Koz At The Movies Double share these recordings, which feature some of Feature CD + DVD followed in early 2008, which my favorite artists,” said Dave Koz. featured the At The Movies CD with two neverCollaborations: 25th Anniversary Collection, before-released bonus audio tracks, a new Koz’s latest album on Concord Records, DVD and a track-by-track commentary. features three brand new tracks – “Good Foot” Capitol Records released Dave Koz – Greatest with Jeff Lorber, “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Hits, his first-ever retrospective album, in Higher and Higher” with Kenny Lattimore and the fall of 2008 and it debuted at No. 1 on Rick Braun and “Let It Go” (from Frozen) with both Billboard’s Top Contemporary Jazz Sturken & Rogers – plus previously recorded Albums chart and iTunes’ Jazz Album chart. collaborations with Barry Manilow (who The collection included many of Koz’s smash recently tapped Dave as opener on his One singles – including “Castle of Dreams,” “Can’t Last Time! tour of the U.S.), Luther Vandross, Let You Go” featuring the late Luther Vandross, Stevie Nicks, Stevie Wonder, Toby Keith, Herb “Together Again,” “Honey-Dipped” and “All I Alpert, Rod Stewart, David Benoit and Scott See Is You” – plus four new brand new songs. Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox, among others. Lead single “Life In The Fast Lane,” which In the course of his career, Koz has also Koz co-wrote with writer/producer Darren played with such artists as Burt Bacharach, Rahn, spent seven weeks at No. 1 on the R&R Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Celine Dion, Shelby Monitored Smooth Jazz chart. It was followed Lynne, Kenny Loggins, U2 and Michael by the Top 5 single “Bada Bing.” McDonald. A platinum-selling artist, he is also Hello Tomorrow – Dave’s first album for Concord known as a humanitarian, entrepreneur, radio Records – debuted at No. 1 on both Billboard’s host and instrumental music advocate. Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart and Born and raised in Los Angeles’ San Fernando iTunes’ Jazz Album chart and was named the Valley, Dave initially just saw the saxophone “Best Smooth Jazz Album of 2010” by iTunes. as a way to help him gain entry into his big The CD was nominated for a GRAMMY® award brother’s band. What began as a ploy became for Best Pop Instrumental Album. Hailed as “an a lifelong obsession. After graduating from event record” by The New York Times, its lead UCLA, Koz decided to become a professional single, “Put The Top Down,” spent 18 weeks at musician. Within weeks of that decision, he No. 1 on the Mediabase Smooth A/C chart – was recruited as a touring member of Bobby the longest stint at No. 1 of any of Koz’s chartCaldwell’s band. It was during this time that topping hits. Ultimate Christmas, featuring 18 Koz befriended keyboardist Jeff Lorber, who perennial holiday classics performed by Koz, invited Koz to come play on one of his tours. bowed in 2011 on Capitol/EMI. Live at the That stint was followed by a fourteen-month Blue Note Tokyo, Koz’s first-ever live CD, was released by Concord Records in 2012 and tour with pop singer Richard Marx. received a GRAMMY® nomination for Best Pop Signed to Capitol Records by Bruce Lundvall, Instrumental Album. Koz released his self-titled solo debut album in 1990. This was the first in a body of best- Koz and his friends Gerald Albright, Richard selling work, which includes the gold-certified Elliot and Mindi Abair turned to producer Lucky Man (1993), Off The Beaten Path (1996), Paul Brown (Al Jarreau, George Benson, June and the holiday-themed albums December Tabor, Boney James) to help them realize Makes Me Feel This Way (1997) and Dave Koz the vision for 2013’s Summer Horns (also & Friends - A Smooth Jazz Christmas (2001). His on Concord Records), which paid tribute gold-certified fifth album, The Dance (1999), to the high-octane, richly arranged horn spawned no less than five Top 5 contemporary sections that fueled hits across all genre
boundaries in the ’60s and ’70s. The album also features trumpeter/flugelhornist Rick Braun, trombonist Brian Culbertson, vocalists Michael McDonald, Jeffrey Osborne and Jonathan Butler – plus arrangements by Greg Adams (Tower of Power) and Tom Scott. Topping it off is a sax-only rendition of "Take Five" with Gordon Goodwin offering his arrangement to the quartet and a new original composition, “Summer Horns.” The album was honored with a GRAMMY nomination for Best Pop Instrumental Album and an NAACP Image Awards nomination for Outstanding Jazz Album. His 2014 holiday recording, The 25th of December (Concord Records), was Dave’s eighth album to top Billboard’s Current Contemporary Jazz Albums chart. Produced by Rickey Minor, it featured collaborations with India.Arie, Eric Benét, Jonathan Butler, Gloria Estefan, Fantasia, Kenny G, Heather Headley, Richard Marx, Johnny Mathis, Trombone Shorty, BeBe Winans and Stevie Wonder. The first single – an all-star rendition of the Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love” – beautifully captured the spirit of the season and was a Top 5 hit on Billboard’s Smooth Jazz Songs chart. Collaborations: 25th Anniversary Collection debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Current Contemporary Jazz Albums chart in August of 2015 while the lead single, “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher” with Kenny Lattimore and Rick Braun, entered the Top 5 at Smooth A/C and Jazz Radio. Dave is constantly touring, with annual summer and holiday tours, and the highly successful Dave Koz & Friends At Sea. His next two voyages are sold out, bringing his tally of sold out cruises to seven. In 2017, he’ll host two back-to-back voyages to "Venice and Beyond." Dave also continues to flex his masscommunications muscles as a radio personality. As host of his syndicated “Dave Koz Radio Show,” he has been broadcasting coast-to-coast for more than 21 years. In the spring of 2014, he launched “The Dave Koz Lounge,” which airs Sundays on SiriusXM (Satellite radio), and “Dave Koz & Friends Radio,” a 24-hour-aday radio channel personally curated by Dave on JAZZRADIO. com, a multichannel internet radio service. As an entrepreneur, Koz founded Rendezvous Entertainment. In 2015, he joined forces with Cary Hardwick and Laurie Sisneros, partners and owners of Spaghettini in Seal Beach, to open a second location in Beverly Hills. As a philanthropist, Koz has served as global ambassador for the Starlight Children’s Foundation for over 20 years. With KOZ Wines, founded in 2009, he found another way to help Starlight continue its vital mission. Dave
is donating all his proceeds from KOZ Wines to Starlight. The wines are available at Whole Foods Markets®, Amazon and California Pizza Kitchen. Two wines from Koz’s partnership with premium Santa Barbara winemaker Terravant picked up Gold and Best of Class awards in the 2014 Los Angeles International Wine Competition. Koz completed a four-year term on the GRAMMY® Foundation Artists Committee and has served as National Trustee for the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS). For more information please visit davekoz.com. LARRY GRAHAM Larry Graham, Jr. is an American baritone singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as both the bass guitar player in the popular and influential psychedelic soul/funk band Sly & the Family Stone, and as the founder and front man of Graham Central Station. He is credited with the invention of the slapping technique, which radically expanded the tonal palette of the bass, although he himself refers to the technique as "Thumpin' and Pluckin'." Bass Player magazine, Apr 07 The Early Days Larry Graham Jr. was born on August 14, 1946 in Beaumont, Texas but he was raised in Oakland, California. At the age of 5 he began preparing for his life course as a performer by learning to tap dance and shortly thereafter began to take piano lessons. In junior high he joined the school band playing drums which he continued to do all the way through high school. However, at the age of 11 his father gave him his own personal guitar since his father decided he wasn’t going to perform anymore. Larry then taught himself to play and that same year he began his professional music career playing in his first band. At 13 he recorded his first record. By his teens he was playing a number of instruments including the drums, piano, guitar, bass and harmonica. At 15 he joined his mother’s band – “The Dell Graham Trio”. His mother played piano, with him on guitar and Ruben Kerr on drums (a member of his first band). At age 15, one of the nightclubs where they performed regularly had a house organ available that had bass pedals on it. Larry taught himself to play the bass pedals while playing the guitar & singing, all at the same time. One night the organ broke down leaving the band without the bass sound they had become used to. So Larry rented a St. George bass from Music Unlimited in San Leandro CA. until the organ could be repaired.
Larry’s mother decided to change their trio into a duo, just bass and piano. So Larry compensated for not having a bass drum by “thumping” the strings and made up for not having a snare drum by “plucking” them. He wasn’t concerned with playing the so called “correct” overhand style method of playing the bass since this was only temporary until the organ could be repaired. As it turned out, it was beyond repair… and the rest is history! Sly and the Family Stone Days In 1968 Larry joined Sly and the Family Stone. Their first album “A Whole New Thing” provided a way for people all over the country to hear Larry’s unique bass playing. Their next album had a number of hit singles such as "Dance to the Music" and "Everybody Is a Star," both of which allowed his voice as well as his thumping & plucking bass style to be heard around the globe. In 1993 Larry was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Sly and the Family Stone. Graham Central Station Days In the early 70s, Larry left Sly and the Family Stone and started to produce a band named Hot Chocolate, which he eventually joined and renamed it Graham Central Station. The group included guitarist David "Dynamite" Vega on guitar, Robert "Butch" Sam on organ, Hershall "Happiness" Kennedy on keyboard, Patrice "Chocolate" Banks vocalist/ percussionist, and Willie "Wild" Sparks on drums. The first album released in early 1974 was named “Graham Central Station” and it included the hit "Can You Handle It." Later in 1974 the next album “Release Yourself” yielded the hit "Feel the Need". That same year GCS was nominated for a Grammy for the “Best New Artist of 1974”. Then in 1975 the third album “Ain't No BoutA-Doubt It”, which went Gold and gave us the single "Your Love," landed in the Top 40 and topped the R&B charts. That album also gave us “The Jam”. In 1976 GCS released the album “Mirror” which included the hit “Love Covers a Multitude of Sin”. The title track of the 1977 album “Now Do U Wanta Dance” soared on the R&B charts. The final two albums that GCS released were “My Radio Sure Sounds Good to Me” which title track by the same name featured Tina Graham on lead vocal. In 1978 the band released “Star Walk”. In the 1990’s, GCS featured Larry’s former Sly and the Family Stone band members Cynthia Robinson and Jerry Martini. They regularly performed with Prince in a number of concerts as well as in Prince’s Jam of the Year tour. GCS released a Japanese album “By Popular Demand”. Their last album to date “GCS 2000” was released in 1999.
The Solo Days In 1979 Larry launched his solo career and then became known for his soulful ballads. In 1980 he released the album “One in a Million You” and its title track became not only a Top Ten hit, but one of the most beloved romantic ballads. Larry was also nominated for another Grammy for the “Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male”. The album “Just Be My Lady” was another hit for Larry from his 1981 album of the same name. Then 1982 saw the release of “Sooner or Later” which also enjoyed great popularity. In 1983 Larry released his album “Victory “and in 1985 he released an album in Japan “Fired Up”. In 1987 Larry recorded a duet with Aretha Franklin named "If You Need My Love Tonight”. A few years later Larry teamed up with his friend comedian/singer Eddie Murphy to lead Eddies band Psychedelic Psoul which toured the U.S. and Europe. Today Larry is continuously writing (which he will always do) and he along with the rest of Sly and the Family Stone received the Rhythm & Blues “Pioneer Award” in 2001. He has also been very involved in his volunteer work as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses which he has done since 1975. Larry has also performed at international venues both as a solo performer as well as with Graham Central Station and Prince and enjoyed a very successful world tour in 2010. Once again Larry and GCS are again sharing the joy of funk with their 2011 “Funk Around The World” Tour. Larry is currently working on his newest CD that is due out soon. "I hope you enjoy my website that has been designed with you in mind. I look forward to staying in touch with my friends on larrygraham.com as well as on select social network sites that are linked with larrygraham.com. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my loyal friends. Whether you’ve been a friend for decades or a more recent friend, it is my great pleasure to bring you joy by means of my music".