Interview by Ronnie Dee
As he brings his joyful 28th Annual Dave Koz & Friends Christmas Tour to Ruth Eckerd Hall on November 29, he carries with him a spirit of generosity, mentorship, and musical connection. The dude is just cool, and one of the “Good Guys”. I’ve seen the show myself, and I can vouch that it is a must see! An experience that both delights and inspires. If you haven’t yet listened to his new GRAMMY nominated album Just Us with Bob James, I urge you to do so immediately. It’s fantastic.
[ Dave Koz & Friends Christmas Tour 2025 | Sat. Nov. 29th – 8pm @Ruth Eckerd Hall ]
ticket link https://gotickets.com/tickets/1122201/dave-koz-tickets/ruth-eckerd-hall-clearwater-fl-11-29-2025?orderBy=Price%3A+Low+to+High
During our recent phone conversation, I greeted him as a fellow saxophone player and couldn’t resist sharing my excitement.
I told him I had predicted the GRAMMY nomination within the first 30 seconds of listening to the new record. “I smelled GRAMMY right away!” bursts out of me. “It’s one of my favorite records of 2025.”
Koz laughed at my silliness and the compliment. “Thank you very much,” he said. “There’s been a lot of celebrating, and that project is very special to me, so it’s nice to get that recognition.” We talked about one of the standout tracks, “Naked Ballet,” a piece whose vulnerability struck me immediately. “There’s nothing to hide behind,” I told him. “It’s just the two of you, and it’s beautiful. It’s real. These days, that is so refreshing.”
Koz agreed and tells me, “Bob said, ‘We are on a cliff, and at just about any moment either one of us could fall.’ That really describes the urgency in the moment. It feels very present. It was a great exercise for me as an artist because we weren’t really making an album for anybody other than ourselves. We weren’t even intentionally making an album, we were just making music as friends.”
That humanity in art, I reply, is what we need to fight the AI takeover. Koz acknowledged the tension. “It’s very controversial, but we are embracing it for the things that it can do,” he said. “This is possibly the biggest tech explosion we’ve seen in our lifetime? Maybe the change of everything. You can’t fight this thing, you just embrace it for all the positive things it offers. And exactly to your point: it’s the humanity, the things that we CAN do that machines can’t! Those things will be pushed forward and celebrated in a different way.”
Our conversation soon turned to his Christmas tour and the incredible lineup he’s assembled. I say, I see you have Jonathan Butler with you again! What a virtuoso. “Jonathan Butler!!! How deep this man is with his music and how emotional he is,” Dave said. “You WILL be moved. He raises all the hair on your arms!” He lit up as he described the rest of the cast. “Casey Abrams is an amazing singer and upright bass player — but he’s also a great keyboard player, songwriter, and performer. Haley Reinhart, with her version of ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’ at over 500 million streams — what a set of pipes. She could be the most famous person on the bill! And Kayla Waters- such a talented young artist, a beautiful songwriter, and the daughter of jazz royalty Kim Waters, and a great friend.”
I can now “hear” him smiling over the phone as he explains: “Part of my joy is the opportunity to uplift emerging talents. There’s a lot of youth represented on this particular show,” he said. “I’m using this stage of my life to mentor, present, and cheerlead for these amazing younger artists who are starting out and making names for themselves.” I ask him for one quote that could sum up his Christmas tour, he answers with no hesitation: “Right now, we need a little Christmas.”
He elaborated with emotion in his voice. “We need a little Christmas to reconnect,” he said. “This has been a very difficult year for a lot of people… it’s a very hard time for many in this country. When the holidays come around, it’s a chance to reconnect with our families, to reconnect with ourselves, and music is one of those things that helps us all.”
That feeling is why he will continue his holiday tour, even after 28 years. “For the audience, we’ve become a tradition. Families come every year and bring their kids,” he said. “It’s a very special thing for me, but also for us as musicians. We can work through things by playing and experiencing music. You can actually work through trauma in your life and hardships. There are wonderful, amazing things to love.”
He hits me right in the feels with that sentiment. For Koz, the tour is more than a production, it’s a joyous shared experience. “Christmas and the holidays, for me, are a time to connect with my dear friends and make music for others,” he said, “but also for ourselves. I really look forward to it every year.” I’ll say this: I love Dave Koz — musically, spiritually, and as a human being. If you haven’t experienced his Christmas show yet, go see it and feel it. You’ll love it on levels you haven’t imagined. He’s doing the right thing for the right reasons.
PLEASE help support his charity work with the Starlight Children’s Foundation at this link:
https://www.starlight.org/dave-koz