Bob James & Dave Koz to Release New Album “Just Us” on March 7th, 2025 | LISTEN!
After their own successful recordings as solo artists, Bob James and Dave Koz finally invite their fans to experience Just Us
Between jazz giants Bob James and Dave Koz who have reached the Billboard charts consistently since their recording tenures, they have teamed with several legends such as David Sanborn (on James’ Double Vision) and Gerald Albright (on Koz’s Summer Horns series), plus their duet in 2020, “Long Goodbyes.” While Koz scored in the top portion of the Smooth and Contemporary Jazz Charts and appeared in the Top 200 since 1990, James’ journey that began with the Quincy Jones-produced Bold Conceptions in 1963 has crossed over into contemporary and traditional jazz, R&B /hip-hop and the Top 200. Despite their phenomenal chart history, who might have thought Koz and James would team to face unfamiliar territory – a strictly acoustic duet setting without the safety net of a trusted group of musicians. Thus, their special collaboration, Just Us, is a lesson in bearing one’s talents on an exceptional level to provide an entertaining blend of originals and standards in a variety of musical backdrops.
The Just Us story came into play as Koz invited James as a guest performer on a cruise in which they already recorded two songs (“Sommation,” a James composition dedicated to the Somma Italian cruise where they performed, and a Broadway musical classic from Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin, “My Ship”). As we wait for this Just Koz Entertainment work due March 7, James and Koz offer their first song “New Hope,” illustrating the wonders of a trip Koz experienced in Saudi Arabia. Throughout the recording process, there were absolutely no studio or rhythmic tricks, revealing the duo’s natural storytelling connections – from reworks of the American Songbook (“All the Way,” “Smile”), venturing into the Avant Garde (“Fountain d’Alice,”) and diving into swing (“On the Sunny Side of the Street”). Even with James and Koz’s many successful collaborations behind them, Just Us will be an incredibly personal recording event that should top the Billboard charts.
Track Listing:
1. Sommation
2. My Ship
3. T W O
4. All The Way
5. Fontaine d’Alice
6. The Naked Ballet
7. Smile
8. Rue de Rivoli
9. Protea
10. New Hope
11. Sunny Side of the Street (bonus track – CD edition only)
Peggy Oliver
The Urban Music Scene