Dave Koz & Friends Brings Christmas Tour to Columbus Tonight

Multi-Grammy nominee and saxophonist extraordinaire Dave Koz has become synonymous with the season, thanks to his high-energy holiday tour, which celebrates its 17th anniversary this year. The 2014 Dave Koz and Friends Christmas tour will feature Koz along with three special guests-Jonathan Butler, who has earned accolades in the R&B, contemporary jazz and gospel fields; Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Christopher Cross known for such Top 10 hits as "Sailing," "Ride Like the Wind" and "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do);" and Soul Train award winner/Grammy nominee Maysa who has released 10 solo albums and collaborated with everyone from Stevie Wonder and Chaka Khan to Incognito and Angela Bofill. The show will feature the quartet's fresh takes on holiday classics as well as other selections that beautifully capture the spirit of the season.

CAPA presents the Dave Koz and Friends Christmas Tour 2014 at the Palace Theatre (34 W. Broad St.) tonight, December 11, at 8 pm. Tickets are $28-$65.50 at the CAPA Ticket Center (39 E. State St.), all Ticketmaster outlets, and www.ticketmaster.com. To purchase tickets by phone, call (614) 469-0939 or (800) 745-3000.

Koz released his self-titled solo debut album in 1990. It was the first in a body of best-selling work which includes the gold-certified Lucky Man (1993), Off the Beaten Path (1996), and the holiday-themed albums December Makes Me Feel This Way (1997) and Dave Koz & Friends - A Smooth Jazz Christmas (2001). His gold-certified fifth album, The Dance (1999), spawned no less than five Top 5 contemporary jazz hits. Saxophonic (2003) produced another four Top 5 singles and garnered Koz two Grammy nominations spanning two consecutive years.

In 2007, Koz released two chart-topping collections of standards. At the Movies, his lush, romantic celebration of timeless melodies from cinema, spent 12 weeks atop Billboard's Top Contemporary Jazz chart and was nominated for a Grammy in the "Best Pop Instrumental Album" category. Memories of a Winter's Night, a festive collection of holiday standards, hit No. 1 on Billboard's Top Contemporary Jazz chart in December 2007. Dave Koz - Greatest Hits, his first-ever retrospective album, was released in 2008 and debuted at No. 1 on both Billboard's Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart and iTunes' Jazz Album chart.

Hello Tomorrow (2010) also debuted at No. 1 on both charts and was named the "Best Smooth Jazz Album of 2010" by iTunes. The CD was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album. Ultimate Christmas, featuring 18 perennial holiday classics performed by Koz, was released in 2011, and Live at the Blue Note Tokyo (2012), Koz's first-ever live CD, received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Instrumental Album. Summer Horns (2013) was honored with a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Instrumental Album and an NAACP Image Awards nomination for Outstanding Jazz Album.

His most recent album, The 25th of December, was released in September 2014 and is his fifth Christmas album and first-ever duets Christmas album. www.DaveKoz.com

Butler released his first album in 1973, winning the Best New Artist Grammy in South Africa at age 12. As a teenager, he made history by being the first black artist played on white South African radio while earning three gold records (Please Stay went double gold and I Love How You Love Me went gold). More than a decade later, Butler moved to London and released his first album internationally. The self-titled set went gold in 1987 in the UK and US. He received Grammy nominations for Best R&B Song for his R&B/pop vocal hit "Lies" and for Best Jazz Song for the instrumental "Going Home." His genre-busting material earned songwriter's awards and received abundant airplay in multiple radio formats-pop, urban, contemporary jazz, adult contemporary, and gospel. Butler's 2004 album, Surrender, went gold in South Africa where he remains a superstar. www.JonathanButler.com

Christopher Cross made history with his 1980 self-titled debut album, winning five Grammy Awards, including-for the first time ever-the four most prestigious awards: Record of the Year (for the single "Sailing"), Album of the Year, Song of the Year (also for "Sailing"), and Best New Artist. "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," featured in the Arthur motion picture, was also awarded an Oscar. Now, more than 30 years after his extraordinary emergence into the music business, Cross continues his recording and performing career with the new album, Secret Ladder. www.ChristopherCross.com

Maysa's voice has been described as "smooth and as rich as chocolate" by Blues & Soul Magazine and "to die for" by The Philadelphia Daily News. In October 2014, she released her first and much anticipated holiday album A Very Maysa Christmas as a follow up to her Grammy-nominated and critically acclaimed Blue Velvet Soul (2013). www.Maysa.com

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