Exclusive Premiere: Dave Koz’s ‘This Will Be’ featuring Kenny Lattimore and Sheléa
Here’s a fun, lighthearted version of the classic tune “This Will Be” performed by Dave Koz and friends from his upcoming project, Summer Horns II From A to Z, out June 22. Classic big horns and effortlessly gorgeous vocals add an energetic flair to this fabulous song.
“This Will Be really captures the essence of what we’re trying to do with this project,” shares Koz. “With this music, the fans know every song. And the musicians leave their egos at the door and show up with a commitment to the band. We know that this is not a replacement for our solo careers, that we will resume them eventually, so it’s not like we’re saying bye-bye to that. But people see all the star power on stage—where everybody could do a two-hour show on their own—the five of us with an incredible band, and it’s an event. Then we get addicted to the response from the fans! That’s why we did it again.”
“This Will Be (An Everlasting Love),” a Top 10 hit for Natalie Cole in 1975, is dedicated to the late vocalist, who was a friend of Koz’s. It’s sung on Summer Horns II From A To Z as a duet, by R&B star Kenny Lattimore and the young vocalist Sheléa. “We started to develop this track, which is very uptempo and really fun,” says Koz. “Tom Scott wrote a brilliant horn arrangement. And then we were thinking, maybe we should look for a male singer because anything we’d do with a female vocalist would immediately be compared to Natalie’s version. Tom came up with the idea of doing it as a duet. It’s not an easy song to sing and their vocal performance is a complete tour de force.”
The follow up to his 2013 Grammy nominated release “Summer Horns,” “Summer Horns II From A To Z” will feature 11 more timeless tunes reimagined by Koz (soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxes), joined by alto saxophonist Gerald Albright and tenor saxophonist Richard Elliot—both returnees from the earlier session—with new additions Rick Braun (trumpet) and Aubrey Logan (trombone and vocals).
Release date is scheduled for June 22nd via Concord Records and will be followed by a massive summer tour of North America.
Recording Summer Horns II From A To Z, says Koz, was just as much of a treat as the first go-round in 2013. “It reminds me of my youth,” he says of this music. “I grew up playing in jazz bands. That’s how I was educated in music, playing in a saxophone section and playing in a big band, then sometimes doing small group stuff, playing with other horn players. For most horn players, even if you go on to do more solo work, part of your identity is rooted in being in a section and blending with others. How do you do this? How do you play that? All these fine nuances of music are in there somewhere.”
That passion is shared by all of the musicians who took part in the project, and audiences fortunate enough to catch a live Summer Horns show—they’ll be touring this summer—immediately feel the heat too. “With this music, the fans know every song,” says Koz. “And the musicians leave their egos at the door and show up with a commitment to the band. We know that this is not a replacement for our solo careers, that we will resume them eventually, so it’s not like we’re saying bye-bye to that. But people see all the star power on stage—where everybody could do a two-hour show on their own—the five of us with an incredible band, and it’s an event. Then we get addicted to the response from the fans! That’s why we did it again.”
