Idaho Music - Message Board

RE: New Dave Koz record ? | from susan331Dec 08 2001 - 14:17

Uh-huh-huh... he said "pull out."

RE: New Dave Koz record ? | from J. BerryDec 08 2001 - 03:03

Oh MY LORD...that is SWEET !

reviewed | from The StrangerDec 08 2001 - 03:00

DAVE KOZ & FRIENDS
A Smooth Jazz Christmas
(Capitol)
ZERO STARS

Aside from Rick Braun's rich, bright trumpet playing on "Jingle Bells"--a section of the "Smooth Jazz Christmas Overture" that opens Dave Koz & Friends' horrifying Smooth Jazz Christmas--I had a difficult time keeping the gun from my head while listening to this record. Needless to say, within that same overture, shortly after Rick Braun's juicy little tidbit, Brenda Russell's chipper, growling, and thoroughly overtrained voice bursts forth with "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town." You can bet that .44 caliber is re-poised and ready before the first verse is over.

What kind of giddy egghead would be willing to make this kind of happy-jazz hogwash? Dave Koz, that's who. As for Russell, she humiliates herself with a bit less frequency as the record progresses, but at her best she's a mediocre vocalist. And, as if Russell's self-debasement weren't enough to fill me with holiday rage, enter Kenny Loggins on "December Makes Me Feel This Way." Hey, I never cared if the guy was gay, but if he is, this dippy, overwrought performance is definitely a "coming out" song. Loggins' delivery calls to mind Erasure's Andy Bell--fluttery, faggy, and most definitely too moved. "It's like the world is new," he sings. "Inhibitions disappear. Laughing in the snow... the world is new and precious as a baby... December is inside of me." (Right. I think Mr. December needs to pull out at this point.)

There's only one kind of holiday celebration I imagine this record being a hit at: a gathering of newly moneyed gays. And, by all means, if you're a newly moneyed gay, bust out the Burberry scarf and have yourself a Smooth Jazz Christmas.