
Cory Wong understood the moment when he called Dave Koz to the stage on Sunday night.
"It's like Shaggy and Sting," Wong said at the MainStage Tent at Crooners in Fridley. "Why are they doing stuff together?"
The Twin Cities funk-rock guitarist, 35, and Los Angeles smooth-jazz sax star Koz, 57, seem like an unlikely pairing. But they fit together like Anthony Davis and LeBron James teaming on the basketball court – a mixture of finesse, funk and unstoppable passion.
Koz became the first out-of-town star to perform in the Twin Cities since the pandemic started in March. And it was actually his first gig anywhere in 2020. He came here to record with Wong as producer this week at Creation Audio in south Minneapolis so why not perform a couple of outdoor shows.
It all started when Wong, who plays with the cult-loved rock group Vulpeck and subs in the house band on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," wanted to play on Koz's smooth-jazz cruise. So the guitarist posted a video on YouTube of his band covering a Koz song.
Koz eventually saw the video and invited Wong on the cruise. Then they hooked up again last summer when Koz brought his annual all-star smooth-jazz tour to the Minnesota Zoo. The two wrote some songs together, and Wong insisted that he produce the recording of them.
Enough with the backstory. Let's get to the music on Sunday.
In the second of two shows in front of a capacity crowd of 200, the guitarist and his band featuring the Hornheads opened with 45 minutes of wonderful Wong instrumental music. Imagine any of those great late-night talk-show bands – led by Paul Shaffer, Jon Batiste, Reggie Watts, whoever – getting to carry on for a full tune rather than just 15 seconds of bumper music.