We take you 'Behind the Beats' to learn more about the artists that play on our airwaves. This week: Dave Koz
We sat down with Dave at the end of 2024 for our year-end BEATS magazine. You can check out the magazine article in our BEATS magazine here, but first keep scrolling for the extended version of our interview in text format.
Allen Kepler: Your current single with Adam Hawley and rocketed up the airplay charts. How did you guys connect and tell us some of your thoughts about Adam….
Dave Koz: Adam is truly one of the brightest lights in the contemporary jazz landscape if you ask me—he can do it all, and I think is really the future of instrumental guitar. But he’s also an incredible songwriter, arranger and producer, with 16 Billboard #1’s to his credit. Pretty amazing.
As he is one of the guest stars of our Christmas Tour, we decided to celebrate that with a collaborative song release. Adam and I got together, wrote the song in a day, recorded it the following week—and now, thankfully it’s out and people seem to love it! We are also performing it in the show, which has been a blast night after night. It’s the kind of song you wanna just groove to, put the top down, set the car to cruise control…and then just leave the driving to me and Adam!
AK: 2025 is looking to be another busy year with the annual Dave Koz Cruise heading to Iceland in June.
DK: Yes, we are super excited to be hosting our cruise on a spectacular, brand new ship--Holland America’s flagship, ms Rotterdam! My team and I never like to rest on our laurels too much, so we are constantly trying new things, new destinations and new artists--and 2025 will be in one of most absolutely gorgeous spots on the globe.
For people who love the outdoors and nature (serenity, whale watching, waterfalls, amazing hiking, beautiful vistas etc), cruising through the Netherlands, Norway and Iceland couldn’t be more perfect. And of course, in our ‘floating jazz festival’ environment, our guests will be entertained by the largest and most diverse line up of artists in our near 20-year history.
AK: Hosting on your cruise is truly the highlight of my year! One thing I find so enjoyable about the cruise is the variety in music styles and artists on board. How do you come up with such a diverse and interesting week of music?
DK: Thank you for being such a wonderful host, AK, we love having you! And we are beyond grateful to our guests for choosing to vacation with us on these cruises, it means the world to all of us performers—and the best way to show our appreciation is through music—and TONS of it!
Of course, people come to hear the big stars of our world like Rick Braun, Richard Elliot, Peter White, Keiko, Candy…the list goes on and on. But when guests leave the ship after 7 days of non-stop music, they’re usually talking about the artist or two they had never heard before.
One of the things I love so much about our guests, is their openness to new talent. They really seem to embrace new artistry--and there are SO many deserving young artists out there. I too love being turned on to new talent—whether it’s a Nicholas Cole or a Haley Reinhardt or Justin Lee Schultz…and not just in one genre either…we love to mix it up musically, giving our guests a unique combination of talent that they can’t see anywhere else.
AK: You have a lot of younger and very talented musicians on board every year like Casey Abrams, Leo P, Grace Kelly, Evan Taylor and Haley Reinhart to name a few. How do you find these artists who fit in so well with the established smooth jazz stars?
DK: It all comes down to authenticity, to sheer talent, and that artist’s ability to communicate a message through their music. Whether you’re brand new or have been around forever…if you’ve got something to say musically, you matter on our cruise. And I think all the artists really appreciate that kind of open environment.
Everyone is brought together because of our shared love of music—and typically, our guests come to this experience with open hearts, minds and ears…ready for just about ANYthing! And it’s such a lovely thing to see all the collaboration that happens between the established vets and the newbies. I think that is the special sauce of this cruise. We can rehearse all the shows and plan, plan, plan…but it’s the unexpected jams sessions, or artists who decided to do special shows that are not in the official program that become the most memorable moments—we LIVE for that stuff! And I think probably more than anything else, it’s what keeps guests coming back.
AK: And you’ll be hosting your 2nd annual upscale SOMMA cruise. Tell us some highlights of cruise #1 and what’s in store for 2025?
Our first Somma (Italia) was really amazing! As it was our first stab at doing this kind of experience on a luxury boat (the 600 passenger Seabourn Ovation), we wanted to give guests something completely new. A different line up of artists, a health and wellness component, an exciting personal development speaker series…all the while sailing the Italian coastline, eating the BEST food, delicious pastas and gelatos every day, the finest wines and of course, the Italian culture providing the daily inspiration as only it can! ☺
We will be on the same ship next year for The French Riviera in September 2025. Somma is quite a different experience from our other cruises--a smaller, more intimate, deeper dive into what it means to be human, and I am super excited about continuing the next chapter.
AK: … and your radio shows both on Sirius and radio continue to roll along.
DK: Well, in a large part thanks to YOU! I’ve been so fortunate to work with such amazing radio professionals for so many years, learning from the best…like you, Pat Prescott, the late Frank Cody and so many more. We started our terrestrial show (The Dave Koz Radio Show) in 1994—so here we are over 30 years later and we’re still on the air! And about 10 years ago, I was approached by Trinity at SiriusXM to start a weekend show, and that became The Dave Koz Lounge, heard on Watercolors every Sunday. I do love doing radio…mostly because it allows me to be a cheerleader for the incredible artists we have in our genre, and geek out on them once a week! (They SO deserve it!)
AK: When this interview is published (December 2024), you’ll be about halfway through your massive Christmas tour. How do you keep the shows and holiday tour fresh after all these years?
DK: Allen, no one is more surprised than me that this tour has been around so long—27 years now, for a nice Jewish boy no less! ☺
I think it all starts with the music. Holiday repertoire is so nostalgic, and the songs are SO good, written by some of the greatest songwriters of all time. So the songs are more than just notes on a page. I’ve been so humbled by their power over all these years to remain strong emotional reminders of special people in our lives, of memorable moments, of family who’ve come and gone.
And we tend to want to hear these same songs every year because they just make us feel so good. Almost like musical comfort food! But because the songs never let us down musically, they allow us to push and pull them in new and interesting ways year after year. Somehow, they never get old…for us, and hopefully for the audience too.
Additionally, we change our line up of artists every year just enough to keep it interesting and evolving. The show may change musically, but hopefully the FEELING of the show remains consistent year after year.
AK: You are on the road a good amount. Your dog Buddy must miss you when you are on the road.
DK: Well, last year Buddy came out with us for the first time on our Christmas Tour and he did so great, we invited him back this year. (And thankfully he accepted…hah!) It’s so much fun to have him--he makes everyone so happy on the road and reminds us daily not to take things too seriously. He’s for SURE an emotional support dog to the entire band and crew. And he LOVES the tour bus!
Keep up with Dave Koz on his website here!