Interviewed by Bonnie Schendell
January 3, 2007
Dave Koz – saxophonist extraordinaire, record label executive, smooth jazz radio DJ, Global Ambassador for the Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation, and cruise host. Is there anything that this man won’t tackle? With a new CD about to be released and a tour on the horizon, Dave Koz found time in his busy schedule to sit down once again with SmoothViews and give us some insight into what he’s been up to over the last year and where he’s headed now.
SmoothViews (SV): So you took the year off…I think! Seems like you did more in the last year than you do even when touring.
Dave Koz (DK): Well, that time had to be filled in somehow! It was supposed to be a year off. It was supposed to be somewhat of a year for reflection of sorts. Sometimes you’ve got to take a step back to go many steps forward, and that was what the desire was for it to be. But I got busy! A lot of things happened and that’s me. I really like to be busy. I’m kind of not happy when I’m sitting around, looking around thinking what’s wrong here. It was a chance to get involved in some new things that opened up like hosting this TV show for PBS called Frequency, which will begin airing this month. I like that show because it is across the board. It’s 360° of music and not just jazz. I like that a lot. I continued on with radio stuff and started late last year with hosting a new afternoon show, Smooth Ride Home, a nationally broadcast show. It’s got about twelve affiliates right now. It’s the Smooth Jazz Network. I am very happy and excited about that because it gets me on the air talking about the music in a lot of great cities, like Chicago and Philly. I was also making the new record and finishing that up during a lot of the year. I took a vacation that I haven’t taken in a long time. I took a month and went to Europe and traveled around. So, I did have some time off.
SV: You participated in a lot of benefits/tributes this year. Is that something you see as a passion of yours?
DK: I think if somebody calls me and says there is something going on, and it’s something that’s near and dear to my heart, or involves somebody who is near and dear to my heart, then I’m there, if I can be. That’s one of the nice things about being home; I was able to do more of those kinds of things because I was around more. Usually in a typical travel year, or a typical schedule, I am gone for a lot of the time…almost half of the year. And I live in Los Angeles; there are a lot of events going on constantly that I would like to be a part of. And if I am not around, it makes it difficult to be a part of them.
SV: Let’s talk about the 2nd Annual DK & Friends Cruise. I heard it was another rousing success. Tell us about it from your viewpoint.
DK: Well, this year I was finally able, in a sense, to show up for it. Last year I was there physically. I was there emotionally, too, but I was in such a different space because my mom had just passed away. I thank God for the cruise last year. It saved me. It gave me something to do with proactive involvement and it was like a floating heaven for me. Everyone was in such a wonderful, nurturing space. This year it was all party! It was fun; it was all the enjoyment, all the craziness, all the rowdiness, all the fantastic music, all the partying and no sadness. I just totally relaxed and had a great time. I met so many people. Had some unbelievable musical moments that I will never forget, including David Sanborn, Arturo Sandoval, Marcus Miller, and all of the other great artists that were on the whole cruise. And we’re doing it again next year. I’m excited about it because it’ll be a different location, leaving from Florida and we’ll be in the Caribbean. I’ve been to the Caribbean, but never cruised the Caribbean. So, it’ll be a nice year three.
SV: Do you see these continuing for years to come?
DK: I hope so. I think it’s really dependent on how many different options there are. I believe there are a lot of people who want to try these things. I am sure that all of the other cruises are going to be great. Besides mine, people might want to also try the one that Wayman does, or the North Sea cruise. I think there are a lot of options out there and because there are a lot of smooth jazz fans, hopefully they can all exist for a long time into the future.
SV: Well, I hope to sample as many as possible.
DK: That’s good. You should!
SV: You recently left your morning show on KTWV (The Wave), and joined Broadcast Architecture’s Smooth Jazz Network. More fans will now get to hear you for that drive time. Do you see this type of syndication as a way of the future?
DK: I think in a lot of ways it’s going to help keep smooth jazz music on the air. In some of these stations that we’ve seen in big cities, like Philadelphia, Dallas – the owners just don’t understand. They may look at the bottom line, but they don’t realize how much the fans really love the music. They’re not going anywhere. I think it may give some stations a shot in the arm and a reason to stay on the air. For me it’s a chance to expose the music that I love and to talk about the music and musicians that I love and am passionate about. It seemed like a really good opportunity for me, too. It’s a little less time than doing the morning show. I’ve got about two more weeks of the morning show in Los Angeles and that show is going to Brian McKnight, who I am sure is going to do a fantastic job. He is all excited about it and I am totally excited because, well…
SV: Now you get to sleep late!
DK: Yes, now I get to sleep in! And, Brian is a busy guy, probably busier than I am, for sure. But when he is out and can’t make it, I’ll be his permanent guest host and at least keep my hand in the cookie jar. I had such a great time with Pat Prescott and Rosemarie Jimenez. It’s coming up on six years. I never ever imagined doing that job, I mean, I thought maybe five years would have been heroic. If I made it to five years, I thought, wow! Something is going on here. It’s finally a decision based on really wanting to focus on music. That’s not to say that I haven’t been a musician for the last six years, but it takes up a lot of time. It’s not so much in hours, but space in the brain. It’s like psychic energy. It’s not in the back of your mind, it’s in the forefront of your mind. I’ve got to make sure I am doing my shows. It’s something that never stops. It’s five days a week and people get very used to it. Radio is so personal to people. But I’ve loved every minute of it and wouldn’t trade the experience in for everything. Who knows…I may do it again in the future.
SV: Things at Rendezvous seem to be always progressing. Terrific artists making great music. How does your original vision of the label and being an executive compare to how things have turned out several years later?
DK: Well, the fact that we are still here five years later is great in itself! The fact is that a lot of labels, big labels, have decided to get out of this business. It has become such a niche business. With that being said, I do not run that company. My office is there and my assistant is there, but it has two incredible executives who run that company, Hyman Katz and Frank Cody, and a great staff. A small staff, but terrific staff, and great music to market. I am very pleased that we have built a company that is home to that quality of artists like Wayman Tisdale, Jonathan Butler, Kirk Whalum and Patty Austin, who has an incredible album, probably one of the most incredible pieces of music I have ever heard in my life, coming out in March - it’s the Avante Gershwin, a tribute to Gershwin - and a slew of other artists, and other projects on the horizon that are bubbling. But that business has changed so much, so dramatically. We have to, as a young company, be constantly looking at expanding what we do because the days of just being a record company and releasing albums are probably not long for any company. The way people get their music is so very different now and sales are way down.
SV: You’re so right. It’s been very sad to see some brick and mortar staples in the industry, like Tower Records, go into liquidation.
DK: For any lover of music, that was a tough time. On the other hand, while there are a lot of business issues to be set aside and worked on, for music it is a very exciting time. The way I equate with where we are right now is that we’re on a plane and the plane is trying to land somewhere, but they keep changing where the landing strip is. It’s hovering and trying to land, but can’t. Once the landing takes place, I think we’re gonna be fine, but everything is changing at such a dramatic pace right now. We’ll see.
SV: Let’s talk about the new album, At The Movies, being released January 30th. Great CD! I know that you are a huge fan of the movies and that some of these tracks hold special meaning to you. Some are quite popular and others a little obscure. How did you and Phil Ramone decide on these particular songs?
DK: Toughest part of this project, for sure. First, I leaned a lot on Phil because of his expertise and the fact that if you take him out of the modern music world, you’d have this gaping hole. The guy has been responsible for some unbelievably important music over the years. You can start with Tony Bennett, more recently with Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Billy Joel, and Paul Simon. His website, I mean, you just have to laugh at the sheer number of superstars this guy has worked with! I’ve known him for a long time and I have worked for him a lot. This idea piqued his interest primarily for the reason that you brought up of how do you make an album of twelve songs and pick the right ones. And how do you cast it? It really was like a movie and each song was a scene in this movie. It was our goal, at the end of the CD when you listen to it, that you go “WOW!” Kind of similar to that feeling when you go to the movies and you see a great movie and you’re walking out of the theater with that high. It’s like nothing else, and that’s the way we wanted this CD to make people feel. Transported, if you will. The songs are so iconic, lend themselves beautifully to the saxophone. Then it was casting the special guests and making sure you have the right iconic voice matching the iconic song.
SV: You have some amazing talent on vocals alongside you. Barry Manilow, Johnny Mathis, Anita Baker, Vanessa Williams, Donna Summer, India Arie. Wow! How did you whittle it down to these songs and how did you choose these vocalists?
DK: Well, we started with a big list and on that list were at least 150 songs. And then became the painstaking task of listening to these songs. I was on iTunes everyday downloading other versions of these tracks, playing them for Phil, listening to them together, playing on my sax, trying to figure out if they would work right. It was a challenge to not do, I mean, you couldn’t do all famous songs because then it would be kind of Muzaky, so you had to kind of mix it up with some of these themes that were so filmic, but that maybe people really didn’t know as well, like “Cinema Paradiso,” or “Schindler’s List,” which is by John Williams. I couldn’t do this album without having at least one John Williams theme, but you can’t do “Star Wars” on the saxophone! It was just constant whittling it down. I knew that “Over the Rainbow” had to be on it and I always knew that it would start the album. I didn’t know we would be able to get the license from the movie of Judy Garland singing it. But that was a dream fulfilled. I knew that “Moon River” would have to be on because it is a great song and Henry Mancini at his best.
SV: I have to say that the first time I listened to the CD, all I kept thinking was about the emotion and feeling you put into each song. It was quite evident. Then I got to the “Pink Panther” and thought, now this is Dave! Was that theme song added for levity or are you just a huge fan of the Pink Panther?
DK: Oh, yeah. Pink Panther movies I just love! I have always loved, even the latest one that got panned. It’s just goofy. “Pink Panther” was a difficult decision because how do you improve upon that? It’s perfect. But the fact that Henry Mancini was such a master…I have become very good friends with his family – his wife and two daughters, who have really embraced me. It’s meant a lot to me because I never got the chance to meet him and I would have loved to have met him. But anyone who can write the “Pink Panther” and “Baby Elephant Walk” is a guy that I want to know! For a sax player, it was a difficult line to cross. I wasn’t sure if I should do it, but knew if I did do it, I would have to do it on the soprano, not tenor, because otherwise I would have just been mimicking the original. So this arrangement is one that I like a lot because I am playing a different instrument and if you listen closely, there is a tip of the hat to the original. There are a lot of funny things, like with a wink and a smile. Like the last note on the original, the whole horn section goes down with a long slide down. Well, we couldn’t do that, so we decided to do a long slide up! And you should have seen the face of the orchestra when they saw that, like are you sure about this, that it’s not a mistake?!
SV: You used a full 40-piece orchestra on this recording. Did you feel that it gave the timeless sound that these songs offered when first revealed in their respective movies?
DK: You have to approximate that sound. Movie music is an anomaly. A lot of time you don’t notice it. You feel it, you sense it, and you know it’s there, but you’re not drawn to it. That’s the interesting thing in this process is that we’re making an album that you want people to listen to, but the music itself, when used in the film, is used to complement, so that was an interesting challenge to me. But the melodies were such that I realized in the studio very early on through this process that I didn’t have to write anything, produce, arrange, or engineer anything. Usually when I make a record I wear a lot of hats. This time I just showed up to play my sax. And with these melodies, the best thing you could do is just go in and play them and these songs will never let you down. They pack such an emotional wallop. They pack the wallop of the actual song you are listening to, but then all the memories come flooding back of maybe who you saw that movie with.
SV: That’s exactly what was happening to me when I was listening. Who I saw the movie with and what was happening in my life at that time.
DK: And it’s very nostalgic music. What gives that feeling, the feeling of nostalgia, the feeling of romance, is that orchestra. If you think about it, most of the music I’ve done in the past was done with machines. There are some musicians on it, but smaller groups. Here’s a group of 40 orchestra members plus eight rhythm section, so nearly 50 people that are all feeling and breathing together. That’s 50 souls coming together with a common goal of emoting these melodies. So, it almost by its very nature, takes you back, and takes you aback, a little bit more because you are responding to not one guy’s emotion, but 50 people all moving together, especially when you get those melodies going. It’s really an amazing process for me. I had the time of my life. I will never forget it. Even if I never get a chance to do this again. (Laughs) I hope I do, I had the best time ever recording this album.
SV: The most fun of all your albums?
DK: For sure.
SV: Since movie soundtracks are known to touch our emotions, and obviously play a big part in your life and love of films, if you had to choose a movie score to be the soundtrack of your life, what would it be?
DK: (Laughs) Wow…film score. That’s hard, by the way. Unfair and hard and I’m angry with you for asking that question of me, Bonnie! (Laughs) In the movie, Cinema Paradiso, the theme music is such a huge part of that movie. It’s one of my favorite, and definitely in my top ten favorite movies of all time. A lot of people still haven’t seen it. I would say the soundtrack is so me. I remember going to see that movie for the first time and being so swept away. I mean, I love the movies. That is such a heartbreaking, romantic movie about the movies, about relationships and multiple levels of relationships. And Ennio Morricone, who wrote the score to that, completely nailed the emotions. I remember buying the CD and listening to it constantly and that same feeling that you’re talking about, just took me right back to where I was sitting in that seat with my popcorn and Jr. Mints and totally swept away. I’ll tell you, that’s the only one on the album that we chose to do a suite, because I couldn’t pick just one. The one that ends that little suite is the one that most people know, but I couldn’t just do that one. I wanted to do those other two sub-themes. Movie music, these thematic motifs, really weave the story as much as dialogue and it’s so subliminal, most people don’t even know it’s happening.
SV: So, the release date is January 30th. When does the tour begin?
DK: Well, we are doing a couple of dates to kick off the album. One on Valentine’s Day in New York.
SV: With David Benoit and Jonathan Butler.
DK: Yes, and perhaps another surprise, which I can’t tell you about. And then we plan on doing a proper tour, late spring and summer tour.
SV: Will it be a Dave & Friends tour with any of the vocalists featured on the CD?
DK: It very well could be! (Laughs)
SV: Well, as wonderful as that will be, you know a Dave-only tour is highly requested these days!
DK: Really? Well, I think that no matter what it is, it’ll be a combination of a lot of different things. It’s likely to be, well, another artist and I are talking about doing a variety of shows over the summer, but that’ll be more of a handful, but there will be a lot more of me on my own, I think. It’s kind of gonna be a year of getting back out there in the United States, traveling around, sharing this new music. I think it’s going to be really great. I know I’m so looking forward to it. I sat in with Anita Baker at one of her shows a few weeks ago in Los Angeles at the Universal Amphitheater, and she and I have really become good buddies. I love her so much. She invited me out for her encore, and I come out there and I’m playing with her. Then she said, “Take it,” and I guess subconsciously, I didn’t even realize I did it, I kind of used my tush and kind of moved her away! I bumped her out of her own stage! And then all of a sudden I’m at the front of the stage, the crowd’s going wild, I look back at her and she’s going, “What the hell are you doing to my stage?” It was so funny because it was the last song and we go backstage and she said, “Now what was THAT?” But she was just kidding and we had a great time. I said, “I guess I didn’t realize it, but I haven’t been touring all year and I finally felt that rush of being on stage, and I bumped you off your own stage and took over! I’m so sorry!” (Laughs) It indicated to me that it’s time to get back out there.
SV: Well, we were able to catch you on a few shows like the Today Show, with Anita Baker, and Holiday On Ice.
DK: Great. The ice show was so much fun and I was pleased the way that that turned out. It was exciting to share the stage, if you will, with these amazing athletes. I mean, that’s one thing that I took away from that was that these people are outrageous with what they do. I was having a hard time concentrating on what I was doing. I’d have the sax in my mouth trying to play something and someone would do one of those triple Lutzes and I would go AHHH! I would flub up my notes. The music and skating really go well together.
SV: I understand that a DVD for At The Movies has been filmed. When will that be released?
DK: I don’t know exactly when that will be released. It’ll be released sometime. Obviously, right now it’s all about the music, but we did do a fantastic day, actually two segments. We did one in Los Angeles where Johnny Mathis, Barry Manilow, and Vanessa Williams all came in to sing their songs with the orchestra, and I did my instrumentals, as well. Then we did a shoot day in New York with Anita Baker. I went to a couple of locations that they used for West Side Story in Spanish Harlem. We did a couple of on-location shoots, like at the MGM scoring stage where I stood in the exact spot that Judy Garland stood to sing “Over the Rainbow” for the Wizard of Oz. Then we went to have a conversation with Mrs. Mancini and one of her daughters and behind them was the piano that Henry Mancini wrote a lot of his music on. Then I was invited to Alan and Marilyn Bergman’s house. They are the most represented songwriters on this CD, which is not a coincidence because they are the king and queen of movie music. Just sitting in the room where they wrote that music was kind of an out-of-body experience. This whole process was a whole new experience to me as I sort of got under the skin of the music. Hopefully, people will enjoy that, but this will be used as a television show before it’s a DVD.
SV: So, with this being your 8th released album, do you see a greatest hits coming along anytime soon…or a live CD, perhaps?
DK: It’s possible. It’s funny, I’ve resisted greatest hits. Seems like you do greatest hits when you need to put something out, or you change labels and the last label says great, now it’s time to put the greatest hits out. I’ve enjoyed a long, wonderful relationship with Capitol Records. It’s been mutually beneficial and I like making new music. I think a live album is kind of an interesting idea. I like that idea. Or a live DVD.
SV: Like Live From Trinidad, that is still watched by everyone! Remember when Steve had braids?
DK: That’s going back a few years. And I had one of those soul patches! But I think that’s an interesting idea. I also think a greatest hits will come eventually. What I would like to do, and is my hope and prayer, is that At The Movies touches a chord and is replicated around the world, which would give me a chance to do more international travel. And I am able to make a sequel.
SV: Speaking of international travel, I know that you have done some shows in Southeast Asia. What is the difference in the crowds or fan base between the U.S. and in Asia.
DK: I think you have to take it country by country, because the response in Japan would be very different from Indonesia, which is very different from Korea. I spent a lot of time in Japan this last year. It was the year of Japan for me. I’d been trying to make it happen for so many years and finally the house of cards fell and it happened. I started hosting a radio show there on a very, very large radio station. Then I got invited to do a week at the Blue Note, which I did with Kirk Whalum. Then I was invited back to do the Tokyo Jazz Festival. It’s such an interesting thing because they’re so conservative in their tastes and how they respond to music. It’s not that they’re not enjoying it. And so I tried, in my own inimitable fashion, to push the boundaries to see how far I could go. And I found that I think it’s pretty much the same universally. Whatever audience, whatever culture, if you make it safe for them to have a good time…if you create an environment where they feel comfortable to relax and let their hair down, they’re going to do it - in their own way, but they’re going to do it. That’s what makes it fun for us on stage - to get the audience to be as much a part of the show as we are. To me it’s like those student driver cars with two steering wheels. The band and I have one of the wheels and the audience has the other wheel. It’s a constant little tug-of-war to see who is really in control! That’s fun for me! And tons of times I’ve lost complete control. The challenge is to always figure out a way to get it back. But momentary loss of control is okay.
SV: Besides now being a blogger, which everyone is really enjoying, is there anything else you want your fans to know about?
DK: Well, there is so much going on behind the scenes, but I have to say that the heart and soul of this new album is my mom. The album is dedicated to her. She was able to hear it before she passed away and it was her favorite album. And I feel that a lot of things happening in my life right now are touched by her. I feel like I have a guardian angel looking out for me on this project and it feels great. It allows me a chance to honor her in a project that she really loved.
SV: Dave, thanks so much for being a part of SmoothViews. You helped launch us two years ago and we are really excited to have you back. Much success to you on the new album.
DK: Well, I am honored and glad that, like Rendezvous, you’re here and you’re still doing it and are an important part of the landscape. I am happy to help out any time.
|
