Dave Koz’s single/video “Summertime in NYC” (feat. Brian McKnight)

From those who have grown up in its boroughs to the millions who have familiarized themselves with its streets through film, music and literature, there’s nowhere in the world quite like the urban landscape of New York City, which is where we’re brought in the new music video for Dave Koz’s single “Summertime in NYC.” Taking us through the different neighborhoods and colorful spots that make the city what it is, “Summertime in NYC” is everything a smart jazz music video should be in 2020 – efficient, crisp and undeniably an advancement of what the composer’s original vision stands to be at full-capacity. 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidstephenkoz/

Try as you might, you won’t find any one specific element in the music here isolated in the spotlight; literally everything from the drums to the bassline, keys, sax and vocal in this mix has a part to play equally as important as the instrumentation situated beside it.

Singular-dimensionality has become the plague of an increasingly alternative generation of jazz artists in 2020, but there’s no complacency in the compositional construction of this work. “Summertime in NYC” is all meat and zero fat atop some of the most subtle bones on the planet right now – partly thanks to the smooth crooning of one Brian McKnight, who lends his voice to this masterpiece of a single. 

Jazz fans of all ages, backgrounds and tastes might not be guaranteed to agree on what the future of this particular subgenre in the legendary style should and could look like in the right circumstances, but my gut tells me they’re going to share sentiments similar to my own when it comes to Dave Koz’s “Summertime in NYC” this month. Koz holds nothing back in his robustly textured performance here, which I would actually rank among the best and most well-rounded I’ve heard all season long. 

Mindy McCall