By Darlene Donloe
Contributing Writer
CERRITOS — Dave Koz is on the move, once again, taking the 27th annual Dave Koz & Friends Christmas Tour 2024 on the road for another year.
This year’s tour includes Koz and Friends performing two shows at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts on Dec. 20-21.
This year’s tour features guitarist/singer Jonathan Butler with special guests saxophonist Vincent Ingala, Adam Hawley (guitar), and vocalist Rebecca Jade.
Dave Koz & Friends will perform Christmas classics, a Hanukkah medley, and hits from each artist’s catalog.
A nine-time Grammy nominee with 12 No.1 albums on Billboard’s Current Contemporary Jazz Albums chart, Koz, a humanitarian, entrepreneur and radio host, has released eight holiday albums, including the most recent, “Christmas Ballads.”
In the spirit of giving back last May, Dave Koz & Friends at Sea sailed to Greece, Malta and Sicily on two sold-out voyages. Koz has raised more than $2 million for Starlight Children’s Foundation through the Dave Koz & Friends At Sea silent auctions and his network of fans. He has served as a global ambassador for the foundation for 30 years and received the 2023 Starlight Children’s Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award earlier this year.
A California native, Koz has graced the stages of the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Carnegie Hall in New York City, and various symphony orchestras nationwide.
Although he was packing for his month-long tour, Koz, an engaging conversationalist, talked about what his fans could expect.
DD: Why do you do this year after year?
DK: It’s funny. I’m Jewish. It happened a long time ago. The DNA of the tour is rooted in family. I was interviewing David Benoit. He lost his mom and I lost my dad. He said, ‘Let’s go out and play some shows. We can work out our feelings.’ At first, it wasn’t well-attended, but the tour grew. I was surprised.
DD: Why were you surprised?
DK: We live in a fickle world. Things change, people’s tastes change. I remember seeing parents bring kids and now those kids are bringing their kids. It makes me feel old (laughter).
DD: The continued success of the tour must make you feel good.
DK: The show is the payoff. I can’t believe it’s been running for 27 years of Christmas tours. People still come, and that means the world to me.
DD: You’ve been touring for 30 years. After so many years, do you still enjoy it?
DK: I love it, although traveling with hotels, buses and airlines and juggling it all can be challenging.
DD: In what way is this fulfilling for you?
DK: For those on stage, it’s more than putting musicians together. The lineup for the tour changes every year. It keeps it fresh. It’s a family feeling. The personnel become a family on the road. We’re not with our families when we’re on the road. It’s a chance to bond. We see each other every day. It’s about that community. I love seeing the audience every night: open hearts and open ears. There are different kinds of concerts during the holiday. They come in their festive clothing and want to be transformed somehow.
DD: Tell me about the show.
DK: We have a stellar lineup. Jonathan Butler is my partner in crime. He’s done at least half the shows. He’s different every night. It’s terrifying and wonderful at the same time. This is Rebecca Jade’s fourth tour. Vincent is new. Adam Hawley is a guitar player. Those two are the future.
DD: When you decide on the lineup, what are you looking for?
DK: Different types of artists. I’m looking for a mix for our guests. I’m looking for people who have that heart and sense of communication. They look at life and have a whole heart experience. We’ve been very fortunate. We land on the right kind of people.
DD: What about deciding on the music?
DK: Christmas music, holiday music. It’s finding the right combination of songs. These are powerful pieces of music. You can push and pull them in a different musical way. The songs hold up.
DD: I recently spoke to Rick Braun about his Christmas CD. He said, ‘Dave Koz owns the market on them. He puts one out every year, and he’s Jewish.’ As a Jewish musician, why do you record Christmas albums?
DK: ‘Christmas Ballad’ is my eighth Christmas album. What is this Jewish kid doing making all this Christmas music? I love the music. I love interpreting and playing it. I recorded the songs multiple times in multiple ways.
DD: You did a Hanukkah album, though, right? Are there a lot of Hanukkah songs?
DK: There is no whole album of music for Hanukkah. A handful, maybe. We can’t compete. Adam Sandler’s “The Chanukah Song’ is the most popular. I wrote “Eight Candles,” a Hanukkah song, on my first holiday album. We perform it every year. It’s a fan favorite.
DD: Why should people come to this Christmas concert?
DK: It’s the perfect way to celebrate the season in a heartfelt way. It’s a chance to develop a community. It’s a big tent philosophy. Everyone is seen and welcomed. We like to create a living room feeling. There is the feel of a tight-knit family vibe.
Darlene Donloe is a freelance reporter for Wave Newspapers who covers South Los Angeles. She can be reached at ddonloe@gmail.com.
