By virtue of his many achievements, Dave Koz has long been considered the prime contender for the saxophone throne of contemporary jazz. Active since 1990 when he arrived on the scene from seemingly nowhere to issue his self-titled leader debut, he climbed onto the Billboard contemporary jazz charts and stayed there for several weeks. The platinum-selling Koz has been nominated for nine Grammys, hit the top spot on the contemporary jazz charts five times, placed 14 singles in the Top Ten, and earned a total of 20 cuts on the jazz songs charts. He is also a seasoned radio and television host, and a best-selling concert attraction. His sound is full of fire and intensity, often recalling that of his musical forebear David Sanborn, and which often crosses over to the adult contemporary R&B side of the genre line. Other career highlights include 1993's Lucky Man, 1999's collaboration-heavy Dance, 2001's holiday treat A Smooth Jazz Christmas (one of four Christmas collections), 2007's At the Movies, and the critically and commercially successful Summer Horns in 2013. He reached number two on Billboard's Contemporary Jazz Albums chart with 2020's A New Day before pairing with guitarist Cory Wong on 2021's Golden Hour. A year later, he marked his long-running holiday-themed tour with Dave Koz & Friends Christmas Ballads 25th Anniversary Collection.

Born in 1963 in Tarzana, California, Koz grew up in Encino with his dermatologist father and a pharmacist mother. He has two siblings, including his brother Jeff, who is also a musician. Commencing his musical education in elementary school, he attended William Howard Taft High School in Woodland Hills (a suburb of Los Angeles) playing saxophone in the school jazz band. He graduated from UCLA with a degree in mass communications in 1986, and after his graduation, decided to make a go of becoming a professional musician. Within weeks of that decision, he and singer/songwriter and pop-jazz pianist Bobby Caldwell went on tour. After returning, he spent the remainder of the decade as a session and touring musician with Jeff Lorber, Richard Marx, and in the house band of CBS' short-lived The Pat Sajak Show (Tom Scott was the bandleader). He also often guested as a saxophonist on The Arsenio Hall Show well into the '90s.

Koz signed a contract with EMI, which released ten of his albums, including 1993's Lucky Man, 1996's Off the Beaten Path, 1999's The Dance, and 2003's Saxophonic -- which was nominated for a Grammy and an NAACP Image Award and hit number three on the Jazz Albums chart. While working on Lucky Man, Koz was solicited by the producers of ABC's General Hospital to perform the track "Emily" from his debut offering; it was used as part of the show's soundtrack in 1992. After his guest spot on the show, executive producer Wendy Riche commissioned Koz to write a new theme song for the series. He took elements from the show's existing theme, merged it with a new chorus, and transformed it into "Faces of the Heart," which made its debut as a new theme on General Hospital's 30th anniversary show in 1993, and remained unchanged until 2004.

In 1994, Koz began hosting the syndicated The Dave Koz Radio Show featuring music and interviews with a who's who in jazz. He also co-hosted The Dave Koz Morning Show on 94.7 The Wave, a smooth jazz station in Los Angeles, for six years. In 1996, Koz issued Off the Beaten Path, his first release to display his sung vocals on "That's the Way I Feel About You." While his first holiday-themed set, December Makes Me Feel This Way, appeared in 1997, it didn't chart. The saxophonist scored big with 1999's The Dance; it hit the number two spot on the Top Contemporary Jazz Albums and number three on the Jazz Albums chart. His extra media activities only served to raise his profile. Koz released his second holiday-themed set, A Smooth Jazz Christmas, in September 2001, and it went all the way to number three on the Jazz Albums chart.

His high-charting entries continued through Saxophonic (number two, Jazz Albums). In 2005, Golden Slumbers: A Father's Love didn't chart but the saxophonist didn't fret, he was busy producing the first of his annual Dave Koz & Friends Jazz Cruises. Two years later, his "Just in Time," with the voice of Dean Martin, was a highlight of Forever Cool, an EMI-themed tribute offering. In 2007, he scored with the platinum-selling At the Movies, a collection of cinema themes that peaked at number two on the Jazz Albums list. It was his last outing of new material for EMI.

Koz signed to Concord for 2010's Hello Tomorrow, produced by John Burk and Marcus Miller. It featured his own vocal take on the Herb Alpert/Burt Bacharach tune "This Guy's in Love with You" that landed inside the Top 40 on the Dance Club Songs chart and hit the top spot at Jazz Albums. A pair of live albums, Live at Soho and Live at the Blue Note Tokyo, followed in 2011 and 2012, respectively. Koz emerged in June 2013 with the studio album Summer Horns. Billed to Dave Koz & Friends, it was recorded in collaboration with saxophonists Gerald Albright, Mindi Abair, and Richard Elliot, and featured guest appearances by Michael McDonald, Brian Culbertson, Rick Braun, Jonathan Butler, and Jeffrey Osborne. The material was steeped in '60s and '70s horn-driven R&B, featuring covers of songs by Sly & the Family Stone, Earth Wind & Fire, Blood Sweat & Tears, and Tower of Power, among others.

In 2015, Koz's career-spanning compilation of duets and more, Collaborations: 25th Anniversary Collection, topped Billboard's Jazz Albums chart. In 2017, he teamed up with pianist David Benoit, trumpeter Rick Braun, and acoustic guitarist Peter White for the holiday LP Dave Koz & Friends: 20th Anniversary Christmas. The following year, he issued Summer Horns II: From A to Z with Albright, Elliot, Rick Braun, and Aubrey Logan and guest vocalists Jonathan Butler, Kenny Lattimore, and Sheléa. The material ranged from horn-driven R&B and jazz to funk and hip-hop with covers of songs by Earth Wind & Fire, the Crusaders, Chicago, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Jay-Z, and more. 2020 saw Koz release his 20th studio LP, A New Day, his first collection of original material in a decade. The set hit number two on Billboard's Contemporary Jazz Albums chart, paving the way for his 2021 collaboration with guitarist Cory Wong, Golden Hour. A holiday set, Dave Koz & Friends Christmas Ballads 25th Anniversary Collection, appeared in 2022, marking the saxophonist's popular long-running Christmas-themed tour. Featured on the album were several guests including Peter White, Rick Braun, and David Benoit. ~ Ron Wynn

With his measured and lyrical style, pianist, composer, and arranger David Benoit is one of the architects of the contemporary jazz sound. Since his emergence in the fusion era of the late '70s, Benoit has been at the forefront of the crossover jazz movement. Building upon the influence of Dave Brubeck, Bill Evans, and Vince Guaraldi, he broke through with 1987's Grammy-nominated Every Step of the Way, and has scored numerous Top Ten contemporary jazz albums, including 1990's Inner Motion, 2003's Right Here, Right Now, 2010's Earthglow, and 2019's David Benoit and Friends. There have also been equally potent collaborations with Russ Freeman and the Rippingtons, Dave Koz, Marc Antoine, Brian Bromberg, and Jane Monheit, among others. While small group productions are his main focus, he has worked on big-band and orchestral projects, including as a member of the GRP All-Star Big Band. He showcased both sides of his artistry on 2022's A Midnight Rendezvous.

Born in Bakersfield, California in 1953, Benoit took classical piano lessons in his teens. After high shool, he studied composition and piano at El Camino College and also learned film scoring at UCLA. Along with work as musical director for singer Lainie Kazan, by the mid-'70s he was picking up interesting gigs, including playing on the soundtrack to director Robert Altman's film Nashville. He also recorded with Alphonse Mouzon and accompanied singer Gloria Lynne before making his solo debut with 1977's Heavier Than Yesterday on the Blue Moon label. A handful of similarly funk-, disco-, and fusion-heavy albums followed, including 1980's Can You Imagine and 1983's Digits, all of which pointed to his future crossover sound.

In 1986, Benoit signed as a solo artist with GRP and quickly picked up a Grammy nomination for 1987's Every Step of the Way. More well-received albums followed, including 1989's Waiting for Spring and 1999's Professional Dreamer, all of which showcased his smooth, lyrical style. He also contributed to the label's Big Band albums, including 1992's Grammy-nominated GRP All-Star Big Band.

In 2000, he showcased his affection for pianist Vince Guaraldi's Peanuts scores with the tribute album Here's to You, Charlie Brown!: 50 Great Years! A decade after their first joint venture, Benoit and Russ Freeman collaborated on Benoit/Freeman Project 2, released by the Concord-associated label Peak in 2004. For 2005's Orchestral Works he was joined by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra and members of the Asia America Symphony Orchestra. 2006 saw the release of two studio albums with Full Circle in 2006 and Standards. In 2008, Benoit paid tribute to some of his musical idols with Heroes. The album saw him covering songs by Elton John, the Beatles, Dave Brubeck, and others.

Two years later, Benoit delivered the Clark Germain-produced electronica-inflected album Earthglow, and in 2012, he returned with Conversation, which featured the classical trio-meets-jazz trio title track taken from his "Music for Two Trios" suite. In 2014, Benoit contributed to former Ambrosia guitarist David Pack's Napa Crossroads set with Alan Parsons, Ray Manzarek, Larry Carlton, Mindi Abair, and others.

Benoit shifted focus on his next outing. Deciding to record an all-originals vocal album, he collaborated with lyricists Lorraine Feather, Mark Winkler, and Spencer Day. Released in June 2015, 2 in Love featured Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist Jane Monheit. She was also featured heavily on Believe, a Christmas recording that appeared just four months later. In 2017, Benoit paired with guitarist Marc Antoine for So Nice! on Shanachie Records. Also that year, he delivered the solo piano date The Steinway Sessions and topped the contemporary jazz chart appearing on Dave Koz's 20th Anniversary Christmas. In 2019 Benoit teamed up with saxophonists Dave Koz and Vincent Ingala, guitarists Peter White and Marc Antoine, and vocalist Lindsey Webster for the album David Benoit & Friends. A Midnight Rendezvous arrived in 2022 and marked Benoit's first big-band recording under his own name. ~ Matt Collar

Trumpeter Rick Braun is instantly recognizable for his rounded tone and intimate, lyrical phrasing. A chart-topping instrumentalist, Braun emerged in the '90s, drawing upon the work of players like Chet Baker and Gil Evans-era Miles Davis, but with his own contemporary jazz style. In addition to more than 20 smooth jazz number one hits, he has collaborated with a bevy of jazz and pop greats, including Kirk Whalum, Norman Brown, Dave Koz, Rod Stewart, Natalie Cole, and Sade, among others. He has over five Top 200 albums, as well as five jazz number ones, beginning with 1998's Full Stride and running through 2001's Kisses in the Rain. In the 2010s, he accomplished the same feat with 2014's Can You Feel It and 2018's Summer Horns II: From A to Z with Dave Koz. In between, his recordings have charted on lists as diverse as Hip-Hop, Adult R&B, Dance Club, and Smooth Jazz Songs, as well as Independent and Holiday albums. In 2022, he celebrated the 30-year anniversary of his debut album.

Braun was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania in 1955. His first instrument was drums, but he switched to trumpet in high school. He joined the jazz-fusion outfit Auracle, formed while he was a student at the prestigious Eastman School of Music. After two albums for Chrysalis -- Glider in 1978 and City Slickers in 1979 -- helmed by famed producer Teo Macero, the group disbanded, and Braun turned to songwriting, scoring a hit with REO Speedwagon's "Here with Me" in 1984.

In time, he directed his focus to contemporary jazz, issuing his solo debut, Intimate Secrets, in 1993. After touring with Sade, he returned in 1994 with Night Walk and the seasonal release Christmas Present. With 1995's Beat Street, Braun's popularity continued to snowball. The 1996 smash Body and Soul launched an NAC chart-topper titled "Notorious." A two-time winner of the Gavin Report's Smooth Jazz Artist of the Year award, he returned in 1998 with Full Stride. He also collaborated with Boney James on the 2000 release Shake It Up.

Kisses in the Rain followed in 2001 and Braun continued issuing albums throughout the decade of the 2000s, including Esperanto in 2003, Sessions, Vol. 1 in 2004, Yours Truly in 2005, RnR (a duo set co-led by saxophonist Richard Elliot) in 2007, and All It Takes in 2009. Braun offered a change of pace in 2011 with the self-explanatory Sings with Strings, an album of standards featuring string charts by Philippe Saisse. In 2014, Braun returned to the groove-oriented, instrumental, smooth jazz of his early work with Can You Feel It. Around the Horn appeared in 2017 on Shanachie, and earned positive reviews as well as a high placement on the contemporary jazz album charts. He followed with a return appearance on 2018's charting Dave Koz & Friends: Summer Horns II: From A to Z.

Braun returned to Shanachie for Crossroads in August 2019. The collection included covers of Stevie Wonder's "I Wish" as well as guest appearances on originals "Me and You" (featuring guitarist Peter White), and "Versace on the Floor" (with saxophonist Richard Elliot). In 2022, he marked 30 years since his debut album with the eponymously titled Rick Braun. Largely recorded at his home in Los Angeles, it featured contributions from guitarist Tony Pulizzi, percussionist Lenny Castro, and string orchestrations conducted by Nick Lane. ~ Matt Collar & Jason Ankeny

A popular British electric and nylon-string guitarist, Peter White is known for his lyrical and inventive approach to contemporary smooth jazz and fusion. White initially gained fame in the 1970s as a collaborator with singer/songwriter Al Stewart before earning more widespread acclaim as a leader and soloist in his own right. Alongside collaborations with Richard Elliot, Rick Braun, Kirk Whalum, and Everette Harp, he has released a number of Top Ten Billboard Jazz Albums, including 1998's Perfect Moment, 2001's Glow, 2009's Good Day, and 2016's Groovin'.

Born September 20, 1954, to an English father and a French mother in Luton, a town north of London, England, White and his family moved soon after his birth to nearby Letchworth. His brother Danny was born a few years later. As a child, White loved sports, hiking, and tree climbing, but music was most special to him. His father encouraged him to learn many musical instruments -- recorder, clarinet, cornet, trombone, violin, harmonica, piano -- but the one instrument his dad couldn't help him with was the guitar; White was on his own. He learned to play simple chords by experimenting and listening with one ear glued to the radio. Like a lot of musicians, White was heavily influenced by the Beatles and the guitar-driven sound of the beat groups of the '60s. Around age 12, White would go over to schoolmate David Visick's house and listen to his large record collection. His favorites were Jethro Tull, Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, Cream, and Jimi Hendrix. In his early teens, he acquired his first electric guitar and amplifier, which survived just long enough to be burned in a fire. Forced to go acoustic, White developed a love of acoustic music. After leaving school at 18, White worked for a few months in a soup-canning factory before getting his first musical break, a summer engagement at a South of England holiday resort. When summer ended, he went back to Letchworth, having whet his appetite for more musical adventures. Traveling to London, the guitarist ended up joining a group that was managed by Miles Copeland (Sting, R.E.M., IRS Records). Copeland also managed Al Stewart, so when Stewart's backup band disbanded, White got an audition call to back Stewart on keyboards. Brushing up on his finger dexterity, White learned a few of Stewart's songs, and soon the 20-year-old musician was touring England and the U.S. In the summer of 1975, Stewart asked White to play keyboards and acoustic guitar on his Year of the Cat album (Arista, 1976). Their collaboration lasted almost 20 years, with White co-writing "Time Passages" (number seven pop, number one adult contemporary, fall 1978) and co-producing Famous Last Words (Mesa/Rhino, 1993).

Around 1979, White moved to Los Angeles, where Stewart had relocated, formed a band called Shot in the Dark with other musicians who had played with Stewart, and established a music publishing company called Lobster Music. Meanwhile his brother Danny formed the group Matt Bianco, which included singer Basia Trzetrzelewska. Danny White and Basia eventually left the group to launch the singer's solo career. Danny asked Peter to tour with him and Basia in 1990, just as the guitarist released his first solo album, Reveillez-Vous (Chase). Made up mostly of unused songs that White had written for Al Stewart, the album became a DJ favorite at jazz and emerging smooth jazz radio stations. Epic exec Cliff Gorov was the man who first brought White's music to the attention of contemporary jazz radio. Former Al Stewart drummer Steve Chapman put down his sticks and became the guitarist's manager. White followed his debut with three albums for the Sin-Drome label, including 1993's Promenade and 1994's Reflections; the latter-of-which cracked the top twenty of the Billboard Jazz Albums chart. Around the same time, he contributed to albums by Richard Elliot, Warren Hill, Craig Chaquico, Rick Braun, Marc Antoine, Kirk Whalum, and Everette Harp.

In 1995, White signed with Columbia/Sony and returned the following year with Caravan of Dreams (which hit number four on the Billboard Jazz chart). A string of successful albums followed for the label with 1997's Songs of the Season and 1998's Perfect Moment (which peaked at number three on the jazz charts). In 2001, White again landed near the top of the jazz charts with Glow. The equally well-received Confidential followed in 2004. White then decided to revisit some of his favorite songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s in his 2006 release Playin' Favourites. The low-key Good Day followed in 2009.

Here We Go arrived in 2012 and featured guest appearances by such artists as David Sanborn, Andrew Neu, and Kirk Whalum. In 2014, White released his 14th studio album, the all-original Smile. 2016's Groovin', his 15th album as a bandleader, featuring reworkings of a number of classic songs from the '60s and '70s. Music for Starlux Airlines arrived in 2019 and featured songs White initially recorded for use by the luxury airline based in Taiwan. Included on the album was the song "Homeward Bound," which featured his daughter Charlotte White on violin. ~ Ed Hogan