David Koz has built his career on following his gut and taking chances—characteristics more akin to the punk movement than smooth jazz.

When he was 13, he wanted to be in his brother’s band, even though he admits that he was no good at playing the piano or drums. His brother needed a saxophonist, so Koz picked up the instrument. Within two years, he was a member of the group and taking solo gigs.

But it wasn’t until 1986, after graduating with a degree in mass communications, that he decided to see what he could do as a professional musician. That risky decision paid off big time.

Today, Koz is one of the most respected and well-known smooth jazz saxophonists in the country. Critics praised his self-titled debut album, followed by Lucky Man, The Dance, and Saxophonic, which was nominated for a Grammy and an NAACP Image Award. He developed his own recording label in 2002 and produced Golden Slumbers: A Father’s Love in honor of his brother, who had just had his first child.

Earlier this year, Koz released his latest CD, At the Movies, a departure from his previous recordings. On the CD, Koz and guest performers like Johnny Mathis, Donna Summer, Anita Baker and Vanessa Williams cover 12 of the most memorable tunes from the movies. He launches his nation-wide tour at the Capital Jazz Festival at Merriweather Post Pavilion on June 3.

But music aside, a decision he made in 2004 was his biggest risk of all. He came out in an interview with The Advocate. Within weeks, his phone was ringing off the hook, he received an e-mail from kd lang (“Congratulations, the water’s fine,” she wrote), his ticket and album sales were better than ever, and he was named one of People’s 50 Hottest Bachelors. “I’d been trying to get into People for years!” he said.

“I worried about [coming out],” he continued. “First of all, I never thought I would do it. But something about turning 40, and it sort of clicked in my mind.”

Part of his motivation was what he calls “showing up completely.”  He was giving his all to his music, but something was still missing. “I led a very splintered life for a while,” he said. Now he feels complete, as a composer, performer and person.

“It’s a great lesson that showing up and being authentic is a great thing to do,” he said. More gays and lesbians attend his concerts and his Dave Koz and Friends at Sea Cruise, which he has been doing for three years. And he was a presenter at the most recent GLAAD media awards earlier this spring. “I was proud of that,” he said.

A year after his interview with The Advocate, Koz wrote a column for the magazine detailing his experiences of coming out. “Well, it’s been a year,” he wrote. “And everything in life seems somehow sweeter… It’s as if I were taking the stage with my saxophone for the very first time—finally stepping into my shoes fully and completely.”

Koz has always been a glass-half-full kind of guy. “I still feel very young and that my best years are ahead of me,” he said. He didn’t have that stratospheric jump into stardom that some musicians experience, and that’s just fine with him. He’s learned that if he waits, things eventually fall into place.

“I’ve built a cake one layer at a time,” he says about his personal and professional life. “It’s taught me the art of patience and to enjoy the journey. When you get to the destination, it’s time to do the journey again.”

Koz’s latest CD is another example of following his instincts and being patient. Instead of his own compositions, At the Movies features timeless songs that were first centerpieces of some of the world’s most favorite movies.

“The album combines the two things in life I love the most,” he said—music and movies. “I’m happiest when I’m sitting in a movie theater with a tub of popcorn.”

With At the Movies Koz and guest artists put their own spin on classics like “Moon River,” “Somewhere,” “The Way We Were” and “As Time Goes By.”  Critics have noted his fresh approach to the classic sax tune, “The Pink Panther.”

“That song was tough,” he said. “I didn’t want to be a mimic.”

This is the first album of his that he didn’t produce and write for. “My only job was to wear the performer’s hat,” he said. That freed him up to really focus on the music, leaving the rest to someone else to consider. Not only that, these are classic songs rather than his own compositions.

“It’s a total departure from what I’ve done,” he said. “It was a dream come true.”  His mother passed away just after the album was produced. “It was by far her favorite album. The album is definitely dedicated to her.”

Choosing the songs was the most challenging part of the project. His first draft of selections was 100 songs long. Gradually, he narrowed it down to 12. “These were more than just songs,” he said. “They were characters of the movie.”

Finding guest artists was also challenging, though once again he learned that patience pays off. “We had to find iconic singers to do iconic songs,” he said.

While hosting his syndicated radio program from Los Angeles, he interviewed Anita Baker. Before going on the air, he told her about his project, and she began singing “Somewhere” from West Side Story. He mustered up the courage to ask her to join him on the album, and she agreed.

“The songs found their right singers,” he said. “And that was a cool thing to witness.”  India.Arie requested to sing “It Might Be You,” because it was her mother’s favorite song. At first, good friend Barry Manilow was not excited to do “Moon River,” but once he saw the arrangement, he was pleased with the updated rendering.

The album also features samples of the movies in which they appeared, like Judy Garland singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” in the introduction to Dave Koz’s silky, instrumental version of the song. “Play it once, Sam, for old times sake,” says Ingrid Bergman, just before “As Time Goes By.”

Eleven of the songs were Oscar winners or nominees. Four have places on the Top 10 of American Film Institute’s list of 100 Top Movie Songs. The songs span generations, from “Over the Rainbow” to “A Whole New World” from Disney’s Aladdin.

A 40-piece orchestra backs Koz and his guest artists, lending an old-fashioned, silver-screen feel to the music. “We approached it as if we were recording it many, many years ago—no machines, no loops,” Koz said.

The CD ends with a powerful and moving rendition of “Schindler’s List.”  The two bonus tracks are instrumental versions of “It Might Be You” from Tootsie and “The Shadow of Your Smile,” the Love Theme from The Sandpiper.

Koz’s own love life doesn’t mirror the romantic music that he performs and writes. “A long-term relationship has eluded me for a lot of years, because it hasn’t been a priority,” he said. First he worked on his career and himself. Who knows what the future will bring.

Today, he’s happy to be working so hard on his music and living life as an out gay man. He is careful to say that he can’t speak for the gay community, “but I’m here if you anybody needs me. And I want to be there for my community.”

True to his optimistic nature, he has a great deal of hope for the status of GLBT individuals. “I hope that our community will be able to have equality in terms of marriage very soon,” he said.

“I’ve always been a glass-half-full person.”

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