Smooth sax player Dave Koz on a career that just … happened

When jazz saxophonist Dave Koz’s “dream” car was stolen in 1997 after he stopped for five minutes to pick up a sandwich at a restaurant in the San Fernando Valley, it was perhaps the lowest point of his life.

Yes, his second album, “Lucky Man,” had already gone gold and, still in his early 30s, Koz was very much a rising jazz star. But his father had recently died unexpectedly, at 68, and 11 days later, his father’s best friend had died as well. So when his 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280 SL was stolen, along with several expensive saxophones and many of his father’s precious books, it was the “third punch in a span of two weeks,” Koz said during a recent interview at BLD restaurant in Hancock Park. When he pulled his car up to the curb at BLD, Koz brought his saxophone in with him. Nearly two decades after the theft, he’s still not taking chances with his instruments.

“I was cut down to being a nub of a person,” Koz said of the period in his life immediately after his father’s death. “Who am I? What am I doing? What am I creating here? And how do I want to live my life? It was a real fork in the road.”

He’s turned out pretty well by any visible measure. Now 52, the smooth jazz saxophonist has earned nine Grammy nominations, with seven albums that hit the top of Billboard’s Current Contemporary Jazz Albums Chart. His solo album of jazz renditions of Christmas music — “December Makes Me Feel This Way” — is considered a classic, and he has played with greats from Ray Charles to U2. On July 31, Concord Records released his “Collaborations 25th Anniversary Collection,” a collection of some of Koz’s top musical collaborations throughout his 25-year career, as well as three new songs. It reached the top of the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Album chart in early August, making it his ninth album to achieve that feat.

He also has his own lines of wine, and partnered with Cary Hardwick and Laurie Sisneros in opening Spaghettini & the Dave Koz Lounge, a California-style restaurant in Beverly Hills featuring live musical performances, sometimes by Koz himself when he’s in town and can swing by. On Aug. 23, Koz will headline the Hollywood Bowl’s