If you thought it was hot outside Sunday, you should have been in the Pabst Theater.
No, nothing was wrong with the air conditioning in the historic theater. Saxophonist Dave Koz and nine of his good friends had the place cookin' with their Smooth Summer Night jazz concert.
The sellout audience, many who warmed up at a special pre-concert party at Tulas, was swinging in their seats and dancing in the aisles from the first song on.
No wonder. Guitarist Norman Brown, keyboard and trombone player Brian Culbertson and vocalist James Ingram, all headliners in their own right, joined Koz.
Those four were supported by female vocalist Delta Dickerson, drummer Steve Thearad, bass guitar player John Manzano, guitarist Tony Maiden and keyboard players Brian Simpson and Herm Jackson.
Koz puts these tours together each summer and again often around Christmas. Luckily for smooth jazz fans here, he usually includes Milwaukee.
The show Sunday once again was non-stop rhythm and high-energy smooth melodies. Koz brings a little L.A. schmaltz to any of his shows, but he almost spoofs himself and has a knack of engaging the audience.
Koz called the group "his friends" and audience members were made to feel they too were included. Koz is at his best when playing some of his hits like "Don't Look Back" and "Let Me Count The Ways," but his sax work is so excellent that he added to the hits of Culbertson, Brown and Ingram.
Culbertson is equally adept at the keyboard and trombone. Koz credited Culbertson with "single-handedly bringing the trombone into the 21st Century." You had to agree when you heard him play.
{INSERT_RELATED}Brown has become one of the most entertaining jazz guitarists in the world, and also is great at doing scat into a microphone that is attached to a mouthpiece.
Ingram has been a longtime star in the rhythm and blues genre. He was at his best when singing his hits "Just Once" and "I Don't Have the Heart." Ingram and Dickerson, who is in his band, did several memorable duets.
The group also switched gears at times. They even played a song from "Golden Slumbers," a CD of lullabies that is due out in September.
WJZI, which almost single-handedly keeps smooth jazz alive in Milwaukee, sponsored the concert and the party at Tulas, across the street from the Pabst.
Despite the heat, a packed house listened to the Gary Davis Band perform on a deck overlooking the river outside the restaurant.
Many then went across the street to listen to join Koz and his friends in heating up the Pabst with some hot summer jazz.
Gregg Hoffmann, best known as a sports columnist, also does periodic jazz concert reviews for OMC.
