Performing at the Hollywood Bowl on an Aug. 9 double-bill with Tower of Power was a dream come true for smooth-jazz sax mainstay Dave Koz, who was just 13 when he bought his first album, Tower of Power's 1974 funk classic, "Back to Oakland." But because of the ongoing delta variant surge, Koz's dream gig at the famed Los Angeles venue was also a major COVID-19 reality check.
"There were about 10,000 people in the audience and Tower of Power opened for us," said Koz. "Tower's horn section joined us for our last song, and it was like the 13-year-old me, who bought their album and wore it out, was back! It was a pinch-me moment I'll never forget."
So, alas, was what happened leading up to the concert, part of a 2021 summer tour to belatedly promote his 2020 album, "A New Day."
"I'm fully vaccinated," Koz said. "But two members of our touring entourage were not, for various reasons — two very important people."
"A few days before our concert there, the Hollywood Bowl changed its COVID vaccine exemption policy and said everybody had to be vaccinated."
The venue, operated by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, ultimately made an exception for an unvaccinated member of Koz's band. Not so for the saxophonist's longtime audio engineer, who had to be replaced just hours before the concert began.
"It was very stressful," Koz, 58, said, speaking recently from his Los Angeles home. "The person we brought in had never mixed us before, or mixed a show at the Hollywood Bowl. But it ended up working out really well.
"The silver lining is that I then made a mandate ... and now we are all vaccinated. The musician in my band decided to get a shot. The sound person didn't want to, so we had to replace them. They'd been with me more than 15 years ...
"It's gratifying to be on the road again and to see how much people have missed the healing power of music. But this is the hardest tour I have ever done. Each venue and municipality has its own rules with masking and vaxxing."
Moreover, instead of traveling on tour buses, Los Angeles native Koz, his band and road crew — 12 people in total — are flying to most of their concerts this summer.
"If one of us goes down, the whole tour goes down," Koz said in a tone that reflected his concern.
"So, we have added layers of protection, and that's something we never had to deal with before. But we're getting by and making it through."
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