. good evening from los angeles. i'm tavis smiley. tonight a conversation with musician dave koz about his latest titled 25th of december. with some of his friends, namely, johnny mathis, stevie wonder, jonathan butler. whoo, he will close our show tonight with two classic christmas carols to get us in the holiday mood. we're glad you've joined us. ♪

and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ always a pleasure and a delight to welcome multiple grammy nominee, and most importantly, my friend, dave koz back do the program. his latest christmas album is titled "25th of december." he will close our show tonight, thankfully, with two performances, a solo of "the

first noel", and a duet with jonathan butler. you'll love this "o holy night." >> it's my honor, we're all fots. >> jonathan has been here since the walk of fame star thing, so for those who may not know, i got -- good year for me. >> come on. >> let's talk about that day. that was one of the great days in hollywood. and you were in your element. i think that you resisted it for a while. and then finally you let it -- because i've had it too. >> yes, you have. >> and i've had it too, did this really happen? did somebody make a mistake? and then there were people on the sides of hollywood boulevard. but the best thing was the party afterwards, which i think you produced. and your mom. your mom was there, and i saw how much, like i'd never seen that side of you.

i know other sides of you for so many years, but that was a beautiful thing to show. >> he comes and takes over your show. on the horn's one thing, but not on the chairs man. how crazy is it recording a christmas album when it's like 95 degrees outside? >> that's right. it was the first two weeks of june that we started doing our basic track recordings, it was about 95 in hollywood. ricky miner produced this. he's a fantastic producer. we had the time of our lives. what i like about him is he's so prepared. he's kind of like the queen bee. and all these other bees were hovering around him. so you have an idea. and five minutes later you can actually do it. so we did the whole thing with all of these incredible artists, 12 songs. and it's really a vocal duet. and we did the whole thing in, from start to finish in six weeks, also coordinating with

all these wonderful artists and musicians. it's an all live album. musicians in the studio. and it was so much fun for me. you said after five christmas albums i should out myself as a jew. >> yeah. >> i'm jewish. [ laughter ] >> about ready to do my 17th christmas tour, and five christmas albums, tavis, what's wrong with this picture? >> you know what? because if there's anything i've learned from you, if i've learned anything from you and the other great artists, and i consider you a great artist, it's that music is music. music is music, and there is no currency in the world like music. >> beautiful way to put it. and i agree. and i love christmas music. i grew up, of course celebrating hanukkah with my family, but i used to be invited to my friends' tree trimmings and christmas eve. and it was that feeling of what christmas feels like. there are certain things that create that feeling, a tree, and

beautiful house and warmth and family. but it's creating that community. and it's what we've seen for 17 years, coming up on 17 years on the christmas tour is creating that feeling of unity and togetherness, and that family feeling, even if you're going out on the night on the town to see music. >> you've got product and projects. in the ten minutes we have before we get to your performances, i want to talk about your products and projects. dude, you've got friends. you have fot, friends of tavis, no, fod, friends of dave. johnny mathis, heather headley, richard marx, bebe winans, jonathan butler, fantasia, stevie, i mean, you've got friends, man.

>> when you say it like that, i was like, how did that happen? who got all those people? >> yeah, you got friends. >> actually, i credit a lot of this to ricky miner and richard burk who is the executive producer of the album. >> number one, by the way. >> i just read that. >> again. >> that's always a nice thing, but i think that having -- christmas is an opportunity, with holiday music, it's an opportunity for people to discuss different aspects of their artistry. so take stevie wonder for example. he's singing the last two minutes of the beatles classic "all you need is love." jonathan was supposed to use it for his album, it was arrangement by jeff lorber. and i wondered if the song had ever been used in the christmas context. and i don't think it has been. imagine this cd as a recording of the best holiday party ever,

where you invite wonderfully talented people over. you have some food, get together, clink glasses of champagne. after dinner you retire to the living room, there's a piano there. all these performers get up there and do their thing. i'm there with my sax for gloria and heather. and we do one song before we say goodnight. and that song was "all you need is love." and i will tell you when stevie wonder came in to sing his part, you talk about you got to pinch yourself, i pinched my you know what because i wanted to make sure i wasn't dreaming this. it was an out of body experience hearing him sing on one of my songs. >> one of the great joys of my life, talking about stevie, i was at home one night here in l.a. and phone rang. blocked number. i don't usually answer block

numbers. this time i did. answer the phone. it's stevie. just out of the blue, what are you doing? i said i just got into bed, long day, just watching tv, kind of vegging out. he says i'm going to the studio, you want to come by tonight? i was like, you're doing what? you know stevie, 11:00, midnight, he's just rolling. i said absolutely. i got up out the bed, as tired as i was, put my clothes on, got in my car, went on down to his studio and got there about 12:15, 12:20. at 8:00 in the morning, we were going to breakfast. i spent the whole time just watching him in his studio doing his thing. i've known stevie for years, but just to watch him work and put down tracks? you know, all night long. and because the studio had no windows on it you had no idea what time it was anyway, not that he would anyway, sorry, stevie. >> we laugh at that.

>> he would laugh at that. >> i learned one of the great lessons from him coming on this. it's not his album. he was doing us a favor by being there. when he got there, the first thing he did, he did his first take singing and playing harmonica. the first take was perfect. he gets to the end of the track. he says nah, nah, give it to me again. gets to the end of that take, nah. i can do better. must have done ten takes in a row in singing and harmon catch. the first takes are what we used, of course. don't tell him. but i was blown away by here's a guy who's arguably one of the great pillars of music. has been and will always be. and still, after all these years, he doesn't have to do any of this. but he still is striving for personal excellence. he's not willing to settle, even on a project that's not his own. impressed me so much. >> i got a quote from the

chairman of the board, mr. sinatra, never accept someone telling you that it's okay if you know you can do better. in the studio, stevie wonder, to your point, it's great, frank's like, no i can do better. >> and then you still go with the first take. [ laughter ] >> which i love. so let me talk about how you chose. this is always an obligatory question, but it's a question that has to be asked of anyone who does a christmas cd, but it's a question to ask you because you've done a few of these, how do you decide what to put on it? there are tons of christmas songs. >> the barometer except for let it snow with kenny g, we'd never done a duet before. that was a lot of fun to do that. but other than that song, all of this material is brand new for me. on record. >> yeah. >> a lot of these songs, there are a lot of christmas classics

and a few that i would call new classics like grown-up christmas list that heather headley sings. and then we did two brand new songs, stevie wonder wrote the title track. and richard marx, my old boss, we wrote a song together that's called another silent night. and he ended up singing. it's a beautiful song. so two new songs and a bunch of newer christmas classics, and a good handful of the gems. >> when the disk came across my desk, the song i wanted to hear most was the second track, because there are a few songs, a few for all of us, but there are a few songs that pardon my english, it ain't christmas until you hear this christmas, donnie hathaway. and there are a number of these songs. you've got to hear bing crosby, and the white christmas. but on that list for me, johnny

mathis, ♪ it's the most wonderful time of the year ♪ >> that voice of his is so unbelievable. i could not wait to hear how you re-imagined this thing with johnny mathis, how cool is that? >> the best. it was just the best. [ laughter ] >> and i knew you were going to say that. >> i had to hear that. >> because he is christmas. when you hear that voice. so i thought that he would put up a little bit of a fight, because he's already done the quintessential version of that song. so why would he need to do it again. but he's such a, you know him. he's a beautiful, wonderful, authentic human being. at 78 years old, he is supppry can be. i called him. i would love to do it, david. i would love it. i'll be there tomorrow. and i said, well, john, why don't you come to the studio. we'll pick aq key. he said i'll love it.

clayton cameron on drums, so instead of johnny coming to pick a key and talk about the arrangement, we were ready to just cut it. he went in the booth. and there was that immediacy capturing that voice, which was much jazzier than his original, and he got into it, i think it's great to imagine this in a whole new way. he was all in. it seems very johnny to be all in. >> you can't do better than b l billy childs. i got a minute and a half to go. let's run through your projects and products. number one. we're going to get that. number two, i am so excited about the new restaurant. >> yes. >> and tell me. >> the dave koz lounge.

>> you have a permanent seat. the tavis booth. it's fine dining. it's a restaurant that's been in existence in southern california for 26 years. this is brand new outlet on the new restaurant row of los angeles. it's fine dining and music, world class music five nights a week, and that area is my area to sort of curate. i'm i have, very very, very exc that. >> we're going to air this show a couple of times. i'm sure it will be well received at christmas season. the christmas tour. i just talked to maysa. >> she's fantastic. this is our 17th annual christmas tour. sarasota is our first show.

>> i hope that people will come see us this holiday. it's a wonderful tour. >> and finally, speaking of projects. is the tour, the cruise already sold out for next year? >> it is, but, you know, i always hold a cabin for you. how many times have i asked you? >> you've been kind. i've been so crazy busy. >> where are you going next year? >> we're starting in san juan puerto rico and going to barbados, st. martin and st.

lucia. >> i'm going to get there one of these days, i promise. >> i got that cabin. free. it's not like you have to pay. >> i'm coming. >> i mean, if you got 20 bucks. that's it. for a week's entertainment, $20. keep your 20. >> this is why i love dave koz. he's a good friend and a true gentleman. dave koz and friends, "the 25th of december" is the new project. as dave gets ready to play two songs for us, a solo, and then a duet with our friend jonathan butler. let me say good night for now, enjoy the two songs to come. dave, i love you. and nothing you can do about it. >> thank you very much. >> and always, thanks for watching and keep the faith. ♪

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♪ ♪ [ applause ] >> thank you, guys. and now to sing "o, holy night "it's a privilege to introduce my friend mr. jonathan butler. ♪ oh, holy night ♪ the stars are brightly

shining ♪ ♪ it is the night ♪ of our dear savior's birth ♪ long lay the world ♪ in sin and error pining ♪ till he appeared ♪ and the soul finds its worth ♪ a thrill of hope

♪ a weary world rejoices ♪ for yonder breaks ♪ a new and glorious morn ♪ fall on your knees ♪ and hear the angels' voices ♪ oh, night divine ♪ oh, night when christ was born ♪

♪ oh, night divine ♪ oh, night divine ♪ fall on your knees ♪ and hear the angels' voices ♪ oh, night divine ♪ oh, oh, oh, night when christ, when christ was born ♪

♪ oh, night divine ♪ oh, oh, oh, oh,?ums>4u

♪

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