- Dave Tozer
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Dave Tozer 
Background information Genres Hip-Hop, R&B, Rock, Pop Occupations Musician, Songwriter, Producer Labels Sony/ATV, Famous Music Associated acts John Legend
Kanye West
Jay-Z
Musiq Soulchild
Jazmine Sullivan
Elliott YaminWebsite davetozer@myspace.com Dave Tozer is a producer, songwriter and musician. He has worked with several R&B, Hip-Hop, Rock and Pop artists including John Legend, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Justin Timberlake, John Mayer, Natasha Bedingfield, Musiq Soulchild, Estelle, Jazmine Sullivan and Elliott Yamin.
Contents
Biography
Hailing from Bridgeton, New Jersey, Tozer taught himself guitar, bass and keyboard. After moving to Philadelphia in the late 1990s, Tozer honed his production skills at various Philadelphia-area studios and began working as a freelance musician playing everything from Hip-Hop and Rock to R&B and Pop. Through Max Blumenthal, a mutual friend, Tozer met University of Pennsylvania student John Stephens [1] (later Grammy award-winning R&B star John Legend) and began a fruitful, professional relationship. In addition to developing creatively with Legend, Tozer produced his three independently released albums: John Stephens (2000), Live at Jimmy‘s Uptown (2001) and Live at SOB’s [2](2003).
In 2004, Tozer contributed to eight tracks on Legend‘s Grammy Award-winning major label debut Get Lifted and his writing skills garnered him a publishing deal with Viacom-owned Famous Music Publishing. 2005 proved to be an important year for Tozer with the massive success of Get Lifted, which earned eight Grammy nominations and reached multi-platinum status. Legend won three awards including Best New Artist and Best R&B Album. Tozer was a producer on Get Lifted and the track “Stay With You,” which Tozer co-wrote and produced,[3] was also nominated for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance.
In 2005, soon after the success of Get Lifted, Tozer was crafting songs for artists such as Heather Headley and Natasha Bedingfield. He has also lent his instrumental abilities to Kanye West‘s Grammy-winning single “Diamonds From Sierra Leone,” and produced another Legend track for the Luther Vandross tribute album So Amazing: An All-Star Tribute to Luther Vandross. For Tozer, the year culminated in a deal with Sony Music as an in-house producer and a renewal of his Famous Music Publishing contract.
In 2006, Tozer worked on the track “Do U Wanna Ride” from Jay-Z's comeback album Kingdom Come. Tozer also reunited with his old friend Legend and produced three songs from his acclaimed second album Once Again,[4] including the iTunes single “On Top Of The World."
In 2007, Tozer continued to work with several different artists, including Mercury Records recording artist George Stanford. Along with contributing to the development of the Philadelphia-based artist, Tozer worked to get Stanford signed to Epic Records before he subsequently moved to Mercury Records. In addition to this, Tozer has also worked with Jazmine Sullivan (J Records), Free Sol (upcoming artist on Justin Timberlake's label Tennman Records) as well as Ashley Hartman from the hit television show The O.C.
Recent Endeavors
In 2008, Tozer reunited with long time collaborator, John Legend to co-write and produce “This Time” on John Legend’s third album, Evolver. In 2009, Tozer worked with American Idol's Elliott Yamin to co-write and produce the record "Someday" on Yamin's second album, Fight for Love.[5]
In 2010, Tozer wrote and produced “Find Me” with Musiq Soulchild and Jazmine Sullivan for Musiq’s upcoming album. He also went on to co-write and produce three songs from Free Sol’s forthcoming debut album to be released by Justin Timberlake’s imprint Tennman Records & Interscope Records.
Selected Credits
Year Artist Song Title Album Contribution 2010 Musiq Soulchild "Find Me" feat. Jazmine Sullivan TBD Producer/Songwriter/Musician 2010 Free Sol "Panic Attack" TBD Producer/Songwriter/Musician 2010 Free Sol "The Coolest" TBD Producer/Songwriter/Musician 2010 Free Sol "Restraining Order" TBD Producer/Songwriter/Musician 2009 Elliott Yamin "Someday" Fight for Love Producer/Songwriter/Musician 2008 John Legend "This Time" Evolver Producer/Songwriter/Musician 2008 George Stanford "Heartbeat" Big Drop Producer/Songwriter/Mixer 2008 Lizz Wright "Speak Your Heart" The Orchard Songwriter 2006 Jay-Z "Do U Wanna Ride" Kingdom Come Instrumentalist 2006 John Legend "Maxine’s Interlude" Once Again Producer/Songwriter/Musician 2006 John Legend "On Top Of The World" Once Again (iTunes Single) Producer/Songwriter/Musician 2006 John Legend "Closer To You" Once Again (Bonus Track) Producer/Songwriter/Musician 2005 Kanye West "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" Late Registration Instrumentalist 2005 John Legend "Love Won’t Let Me Wait" So Amazing: An All-Star Tribute to Luther Vandross Producer/Musician/Mixer 2004 John Legend "Stay With You" Get Lifted Producer/Songwriter 2004 John Legend "I Can Change" feat. Snoop Dogg Get Lifted Producer/Songwriter 2004 John Legend "Let’s Get Lifted Again" Get Lifted Producer/Songwriter/Musician/Mixer 2004 John Legend "It Don’t Have To Change" feat. The Stephens Family Get Lifted Songwriter 2004 John Legend "Let’s Get Lifted" Get Lifted Instrumentalist 2004 John Legend "Live It Up" Get Lifted Instrumentalist 2004 John Legend "So High" Get Lifted Instrumentalist 2004 John Legend "Refuge (When It’s Cold Outside)" Get Lifted Instrumentalist 2004 John Legend "Johnny’s Gotta Go" Get Lifted (International Release) Producer/Songwriter/Musician/Mixer 2004 John Legend "Money Blown" Get Lifted (International Release) Producer/Songwriter 2003 John Legend Full Album Live At SOB’s Producer/Songwriter/Musician/Mixer 2001 John Legend Full Album Live At Jimmy’s Uptown Producer/Songwriter/Musician/Mixer 2000 John Legend Full Album John Stephens Producer/Songwriter/Musician/Mixer References
- ^ BMI Article
- ^ Billboard Live at SOB's Discography
- ^ Billboard Get Lifted Discography
- ^ Billboard Once Again Discography
- ^ Elliott Yamin CNN Article
Further reading
External links
Categories:- Living people
- American record producers
- American songwriters
- American guitarists
- Grammy Award winners
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