In the pantheon of rock-bands-with-horns, the two usual suspects who come to mind are Chicago and Blood, Sweat and Tears. And if you expand musical genre to R&B, there’s Earth, Wind and Fire, Kool and the Gang, Sly & the Family Stone, and the Ohio Players at the top.
Usually forgotten about are The Ides of March. The Chicago area-based group had one hit with 1970’s punchy and powerful “Vehicle.” It was written and sung by band guitarist Jim Peterik (who would later go on to co-found ‘80s rockers Survivor).
Famed jazz saxophonist Dave Koz was a big fan of these groups. And in fact, as he told the Houston Press in 2021, they inspired the very concept of his Dave Koz & Friends Summer Horns tour. Since 2013, it has brought Koz together almost annually with a rotating cast of brass players for a short, hot months tour.
The 2025 Summer Horns lineup has actually put out music ahead of time. And the song that Koz & Co. buoyantly bounce through? It’s “Vehicle.”
“It’s an interesting thing that song is so iconic and has one of the greatest horn riffs ever. And the band basically was one and done. When I was doing research, there hadn’t been many covers of it like some of those other bands. It’s relatively untouched,” Koz says.
Interestingly, the day that Koz and his Horns recorded the track was the very first time that ensemble had ever made a sound together. “We had never blown a horn section chart together until that day. Honestly, I was freaking out a bit and my fingers were crossed. And when we went into the booth to make the sounds, it worked. Thank the Lord!”
And while there have been two full Summer Horns records released in 2013 and 2018, Koz felt that the single format worked better here.
“The music business has changed so dramatically that it’s become more of a singles thing. [Groups] are putting them out on places like Spotify or digitally and then maybe, depending on the reaction, there might be an album,” he offers. “So, it was a new approach we wanted to try.”
The lineup for the 2025 “Dave Koz & Friends Summer Horns” edition includes Koz, Marcus Anderson (sax), Jeff Bradshaw (trombone), Leo P (baritone sax), Evan Taylor (trumpet) and Marcel Anderson (vocals, also twin to Marcus). It’s the first time that Summer Horns have boasted a full, multi-horn section. Koz also notes that the Horns represent five different decades in age, with players in their thirties, forties, fifties, and Koz representing sixtysomethings.
“I’m in my early sixties, I need to stress!” the 62-year-old sax man notes.
The Horns take both solo turns and engage in loose and fun collaborations in various configurations, playing both well-known covers and their own material. The backing band includes three players from Marcus Anderson’s band (Nile Hargrove/keyboards, Demetrice Everett/drums, Sedar Jones/percussion) and two associated with Koz (Randy Jacobs/guitar, Nathaniel Kearney, Jr./bass).
Since releasing his 1990 self-titled debut, the discography of Dave Koz has gone deep with not just his solo output, but many collaborations. His most recent album released earlier this year was Just Us, which featured him and 85-year-old pianist Bob James, an already towering figure (like Koz) in the “smooth jazz” subgenre. And as the title indicates, the only instruments you hear are Koz’s alto and soprano saxes and James’ acoustic piano.
Its genesis was completely unplanned, though. The story goes when Koz invited longtime friend James to be a performer on one of his many hugely successful jazz cruises, James agreed on one condition: That the pair record a couple of new tunes to give passengers on the “Somma Italiana” jaunt a 7-inch 45rpm souvenir record of the experience.
The pair went to James’ home and put down the James original “Sommation” (a tribute to the cruise) and the standard “My Ship.” They has such a good time that they laid down more material in three additional sessions ranging from covers (“All the Way,” “Smile,” “On the Sunny Side of the Street”), tunes written by either man (“Protea,” “New Hope,” “Rue di Rivoli,” “The Naked Ballet,” “Fountain D’Alice”) and one new collaboration (“T W O”).
“Bob wanted to do something special. I thought that was lovely idea,” Koz says. “And at the very least, I got to go to Bob James’ compound in in Northern Michigan in the summer and get treated like a king! After it, I felt we weren’t done and there was more. So, we continued recording. It was a very unexpected album, and we were making music for us. There was no commercial thought involved. Totally vibing on the instruments sounded without anything getting in the way. We just had the greatest time together.”
Not lost on Koz was how special it was to be with James. “He’s lived an intensely creative life and been inspiring at every turn,” he says. “I could go on and on about this man and what’s he’s achieved and who he is. That was icing on the cake for me, to be around him and learn.”
Finally, going back to “Vehicle,” Koz and the Summer Horns recorded a video for it, a live track that differs from the recorded version. They are all decked out in resplendent identical ‘70s garb of brown, yellow, and orange, looking very much of the era.
He explains that the outfits were commissioned as part of a “’Tribute to the ‘70s” night on the June 2025 Dave Koz & Friends Cruise. But the band loved them so much, that a new set was ordered. That brings the total of three different costume changes on the current tour.
“We’ve never done that before with the matching outfits. We wanted to do the great horn bands of the ‘70s so we had to look the part! So, I did some smiling and dialing and we found a designer in Florida that did them for us,” Koz says.
“It’s such a strange thing, but the outfits have become a hit. We are a band! And the music is just so full of life and love. These songs are markers of time of a less stressful era of our lives.”
Nevertheless, the outfits may have triggered some personal high school era PTSD in this writer, as they recall the shade of “Burger King Brown Corduroy with Orange and Yellow” palette that made up the uniform of workers at the fast-food giant in the mid-1980s.
“I’m sorry if that brought up bad memories for you, Bob!” Koz laughs. “I don’t want them to be a trigger for you if you’re at the show!”
Dave Koz & Friends Summer Horns is 8 p.m. on Friday, August 1, at the Smart Financial Centre in Sugar Land, 18111 Lexington. For more information, call 281-207-6278 or visit SmartFinancialCentre.net. $72 and up.
For more on Dave Koz, visit DaveKoz.com
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.
