Continuing on the momentum of last year’s series, the Carolina Jazz Concert Series kicked off it’s opening night with a rousing start. The much anticipated opener brought out a full house of fans to the beautiful Halton Theater in downtown Charlotte. The crowd was there to hear saxophonist Dave Koz along with guitarist Marc Antoine and keyboardist Brian Simpson.
                                                                                           
Both Antoine and Simpson graced the stage first, warming up the crowd as they made their way to their seats. Brian led off with a couple of songs including one from Above The Clouds called “What cha Gonna Do?” He got out front with his portable keyboard with Marc adding some good solo work along with his drummer. Marc added a couple of numbers from his Hi Low Split including the title track with a blazing ending, as well as the always fun “Spooky” with Brian on the lead followed by Marc. After a quick band introduction, Brian introduced a blues tune that he had put together that afternoon and they all jammed in a Chicago style blues session that was a lot of fun. That was all Marc needed to launch the crowd favorite “Sunland” followed by Brian’s ever popular “Let’s Get Close.” Both guys brought a lot of fun and energy to the stage, but this was far from over. They finished the set with “Funky Picante” as Marc interacted with his drummer and finished it off with some great keys from Brian. The crowd roared and stood in approval as the two left the stage. A quick intermission, and the patrons were back in their seats ready for more.

With his band coming out alone, the crowd got an early tease of intro music as they warmed up with bits from “Sounds of the Underground.” As the anticipation grew, Koz hit the stage in the fast lane. He started off the show with “Life in the Fast Lane” from his latest release. It had been five years since his last visit to Charlotte, and the crowd welcomed him right away. It was a great number to start the show because of the fast pace and enthusiasm he brought to the theater. He was all over the stage and went right into “Honey Dipped” and “Let It Free” from his Saxophonic disc. He brought the lights down, and got everyone close together for the always sensual “Surrender.” This is one that always gets the couples together, and Dave has a lot of fun with it. His tenor sounded great as he often played in the lower register and played some of his longest and best solos of the night. He then kicked it up a couple of notches for the always fun “Silver Lining” from Lucky Man. The choreography with Bassist Bill Sharp and guitarist Randy Jacobs had everyone yelling for more!

One of the best surprises of the evening came when he talked about the new material he was recording for release later this year. He is working with Marcus Miller on several songs including one called “The Journey” that he played for us. Sitting on a stool with the lights down low, he introduced this future classic to us with the heart and intensity that only Koz can bring. I know you’re going to love it when you hear it. While he had our hearts, he talked about today’s anniversary of the passing of Wayman Tisdale. It was exactly one year ago that we lost our dear friend. So in honor of Wayman, Marc Antoine joined the stage and they played Wayman’s up beat “Throwin It Down” that had originally featured Koz on sax. The two played it up well, and you could feel the presence of the big man on stage. We all miss him after just a year. Keeping the momentum going, Stevo got the drums going as they launched into the always popular “Together Again.” This is always a personal favorite of mine, and was even more so tonight as I had seen so many good friends again!

Reaching once more from his Greatest Hits, he introduced his Soprano’s influenced “Bada Bing.” I had never heard this one played live, and it was a lot of fun. Guitarist Randy Jacobs was featured here, and he really shinned. His playing was intense as he finally ended up on the floor on his back which led to an intense finale!  The fun continued as Koz divided the audience into three sections to help on the vocals of the always favorite “Sha La” song. Three of them led the three different vocal passages as they tried to out sing the other. With Dave playing the lead, the vocals made up a nice background it came to a conclusion. Leaving Bill Sharp out front, we all found out why he is called the “Rubber Hand Man.” He was featured on his bass for a few minutes then joined by Koz. The audience roared in approval and then went into one of Koz’s all time favorites, “You Make Me Smile.” Indeed we all were as his soprano rang out this infectious tune. We were all on our feet as the encore began. Each musician was featured on Michael Jackson’s “I’ll Be There” from the Koz release, The Dance. It was a perfect way to end an outstanding evening of music and fun. They all promised to “be there” for us as they took their final bows and left the stage. We were all left with wanting more, but as usual, we were went away with big grins from the evening we had just experienced. It was a special night in the queen city, and one I’ll never forget.