JUNE/JULY 2025 | 25 “We were in a situation of hearing our instruments without any competition for the sonic space. You hear just this gorgeous grand piano sound. I’ll remind you that I’ve been making records in different ways all my life, where you can go back and fix things or add multiple tracks. “But this was one time you hope you get it right, and there were a lot of mistakes and imperfections, but those are what gave the music so much personality.” Koz, of course, is a popular and critically acclaimed saxophone colossus in contemporary jazz—a master stylist whose influence is wide ranging. His longtime friend, James is a world-renowned keyboardist-songwriter-arranger-producer who transcends musical genres. Like many discoveries, Just Us wasn’t planned—it evolved out of a burst of creativity and inspiration. As the 62-yearold saxophonist explained, all it took was some splendid isolation together for the musicians to mine magic. “We never decided to do an album together,” he said. “But I had invited Bob to be an artist on one of our luxury cruises we debuted last September, called Somma. I love Bob, and we have collaborated on each other’s projects. “I knew he’d be great, and everyone would love him. He agreed under one condition: He wanted to record a couple of songs—just him and me—and give it to the guests. There were 600 guests on the cruise. He thought about a 7-inch vinyl with two songs on it. “In advance of the cruise, I went to his home in northern Michigan, and we recorded the two songs. They came fairly quickly, and we thought we’d do a few more, and that first session we recorded four songs. We weren’t making an album, though, just recording songs for the cruise guests. Before I left, I told him I didn’t think we were done and asked to come back in six weeks to continue recording. We recorded five songs when I went back, and the songs were either ones we wrote together or ones he or I composed or covers from the Great American Songbook. Before we knew it, we had an album, but we never set out to make one.” One of the songs on the record is a gorgeous, emotionally true “New Hope,” which resonates in this uneasy era as a ballad for personal growth and possibility. It was born out of a trip Koz took abroad. “I started that song but couldn’t finish it,” he explained. “I was on a trip to Saudi continued on page 26 Koz said he finds inspiration in all aspects of his life, even the most quotidian and mundane events and encounters. Since his first solo album in 1990, he has been spinning gold out of hay. Dave Koz at home with his dog, Buddy Boy Dave Koz and Bob James signing copies of their Just Us CDs Photo: Tyler Franz Photo: Pete Clingan Dave Koz sampling cocktails on his site survey for his 2026 South America cruise aboard the Celebrity Equinox
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