JAZZ REVIEW : Saxman Dave Koz: The Eyes Have It : Also on the tour, vocalist Phil Perry employs his dynamic style and tremendous range to bring excitement to his set.

Don’t begrudge saxophonist Dave Koz his popularity. He works hard for it.

Or at least those bushy eyebrows of his worked hard for it Wednesday at the Coach House.

Koz, in what was billed as the opening show of a national tour he’s mounted with vocalist Phil Perry, won wild ovations from the crowd with plenty of mugging, sincere eye contact and a prance reminiscent of the Lippizzaner stallions. At one point, he walked halfway down the top of a row of dinner tables to serenade a member of the audience. Oh, and by the way, some of that time he was playing saxophone.

It would be unfair to critique Koz as a jazz saxophonist. He plays instrumental pop, with an occasional vocal chorus thrown in for good measure. Backed by a tight six-piece band that featured potent bassist Don Boyette and percussive interest from Machito Sanchez, he performed melodic ballads and backbeat numbers mostly pulled from the recent “David Koz” album. All seemed to beg for the added depth a lyric might give them. Koz’s saxophone work surely didn’t provide any.

Whether on alto, soprano or tenor, Koz stuck close to the melody on the bulk of his tunes, taking only brief excursions off the beaten path or adding decoration here and there while remaining true to the particular tune’s mood. He signaled abrupt changes in his attack by flashing those eyebrows, or looking out longingly at the crowd with the face of a child hoping for attention. Dramatic squeals were followed by tender passages that came like an apology after an angry outburst. His tone resembled the muscle on a retired bodybuilder: no definition.

While Koz had some success generating emotion, it was as cheap as that drummed up by the recent soda-pop commercial awash in American flags and yellow ribbons. His theatrics took away from what little musical interest there was.

Working with the same band, singer Perry brought more dynamic style to a similar array of material. Perry has tremendous range, including a spotless falsetto, and his sheer enthusiasm while working at the mike brought excitement to what was basically a set of faceless numbers. The singer likes to climb into the upper ranges and hang there, as he did on “Amazing Love,” but he also produced warm tenor tones unburdened by stylistic devices as on Brenda Russell’s “Forever.” Though the amplification didn’t do the depth of his voice justice, Perry turned an otherwise empty show into a showcase for his amazing pipes.

Koz joined Perry for a quartet of tunes that pointedly marked a difference between them. The two had an exchange on “The Best of Me” in which Perry’s scat and whistling (the singer plays a fine “puckolo”) that made the saxophonist’s lines seem limp and uninventive by comparison. Koz might well be advised to sit that tune out as the tour continues. There’s nothing his eyebrows can do to that compares to Perry’s skills.