For the First Time in Their Careers, Bob James and Dave Koz Share Their “Living Room Music”

 

This interview originally aired on The Playroom on 3/23/25

READ THE FULL TRANSCRIPT OF THE INTERVIEW BELOW:

Patty Peterson (Jazz88) 

I want to welcome to jazz88 two of the stellar jazz individuals that I have met in my life, and continue to entertain and bring a heart full of love through their music to people who come out to listen to them, and for everyone who has one of their CDs or albums, this dynamic duo is coming to the Twin Cities. I’m so excited to introduce you to Bob, James and Dave, cause coming to the Parkway theater on Tuesday, March 25 here in Minneapolis, and Bob and Dave. Thank you so much for being here with us on jazz88 this is just a blast to have the two of you together here on an interview with me. Thank you.

 

Bob James 

Thank you, Patty. Very, very happy to be talking about this new thing that Dave and I have going on.

 

Dave Koz 

Happy to talk about it with you, Patty, because we know that you are an appreciator of music, incredible music maker yourself and your family that we’ve all known and loved for so many years. So it’s great to be with you. Thanks for having us.

 

Patty Peterson (Jazz88) 

Absolutely. Thank you for joining us. And so we want to talk a little bit about we hear about your respective careers. We’ve heard about them through the different groups you’ve put together, from Fourplay to the summer horns to the incredible cruises you’ve been on and multiple recording projects. How many things have you two officially done together? How long does your friendship go back?

 

Bob James 

Friendship goes back a long way, but it’s been in recent years. I’d have to look at the calendar to see exactly, but at some point he and I had decided that we wanted to guest on each other’s albums in some form or another, on a tune or whatever. And the idea was that if we reciprocated, we could keep it kind of cheap and kind of and we wouldn’t be feeling cheap, because if I played for him, he would reciprocate, and if he played for me, I would reciprocate, or whatever. And we’ve got at least five or six songs that were the result of that. And maybe that was a good reason why he invited me last year to join him on a new cruise for him called the soma, which was a brand new first voyage on the ship, and kind of a different concept from the cruises that he’d done in the past. And when he invited me, I suggest the idea that maybe we could make a little mini CD or something with a couple of tunes that we would record in advance so that we could do a giveaway for the passengers. And He came to my home, and we embarked, no pun intended, on recording a couple of pieces, and in doing so, we were having too much fun.  We wanted to do more, and we accomplished our goal of having this little mini recording that that the people found on their beds in their room on the cruise as a little present. But we then started scheming. Well, we can’t stop here, we want to do more.

Dave Koz 

The key too is that we didn’t set out to make an album, and I think that’s one of the reasons why it’s a fresh, really fresh project for both of us. Neither of us have ever done anything quite like this. And as Bob said, we’ve been working together and having a beautiful friendship, and I think a tremendous amount of respect. Bob, of course, is one of the pioneers of what we now call contemporary jazz and smooth jazz and a master of the piano. And so, you know, I’ve loved his music, and have loved him for so many years, but we never set out to do this project. It was just an idea of his to record a couple of songs, but it flowed so effortlessly that and we in those first couple recordings were in Bob’s gorgeous living room, his nine foot Steinway set up. I had a saxophone mic. We weren’t on headphones. We were just making music, living room music, honestly, and that, I think one of the reasons why it was so much fun was it was not pressure. There was no pressure that we were making a record. So we were just two friends in a room making music for us, and the next thing, you know, we have a whole album!

 

Patty Peterson (Jazz88) 

That’s, it’s incredible. So, of course, a little tongue in cheek. I noticed one of the titles, since you had it on this new cruising endeavor, is “My ship.” And that was, I mean, you had to kind of go, oh, well, we have to do that one. Just a beautiful old standard, I love that song!

 

Bob James 

Yeah, we did too, and and since we knew that, we wanted to interpret our favorite standards, and we were both asking each other what what tunes we like the most, what would we like to interpret? And that one came up almost immediately that we both really liked it, and it became the standard bearer, or the ooh, the standard standards barrier. I’m not deliberately trying to make puns, by the way.

 

Patty Peterson (Jazz88) 

Keep it up! What the heck?

 

Dave Koz 

Can’t Help yourself. Can you?

Bob James 

In the description that Dave made so well, the there was one aspect that seemed to stick out to me from both of our past recordings. We’re both spoiled because we have been able to work with the real great, supportive musicians, the great rhythm sections, drummers, bass players, guitar players, and our music, I think, is distinguished by that kind of sound production has been important to both of us. So when we found ourselves with none of that, it was at first both intimidating a little bit and scary, a little bit vulnerable a little bit, but I think we both about the same time, thought it was also refreshing and a way to express ourselves more personally without anybody else fixing us or making us legitimate with all of their great playing and so forth. So that ended up being the basic concept for the whole album. The title of the album very clearly states exactly what we did, which is, which is just us, nobody else.

 

Patty Peterson (Jazz88) 

My guests are Dave Koz and Bob James, and they’re coming to the parkway theater at 630 doors, that’s in Minneapolis. And I think I interrupted you, Bob, continue with your thought. Want to remind people this incredible dynamic duo that we’re talking to today.

 

Bob James 

Thank you and and that is what the audience in Minneapolis will see and hear, is us exposed. I can use the word naked because Dave uses the title of one of the songs the album, and it’s kind of like that, not literally. Don’t panic if you. . . . .it’s it’s naked in the in the sense of no place to hide when it’s just us. And we think that that’s what’s really special about it, I may have slightly more pressure, because the piano as an instrument has to kind of be the bass player and drummer and orchestra, brass, whatever, what I hope to be able to simulate or represent, something like that. So I’m sweating it out, practicing to try to figure out how to do that. And Dave is playing those melodies by himself. He doesn’t have any place to hide either.

 

Patty Peterson (Jazz88) 

I think what’s so great about the two of you, Dave is that you are in a room you’re choosing to do this, and I see some of the incredible titles you’ve chosen, you’ve written, you’ve decided to remake, but it’s just such an honest record the two of you alone that it’s an obvious friendship in the first place. Secondly, the way you support each other musically and the places you go together is absolutely beautiful. Talk to me about what your experience was like when you were recording this.

 

Dave Koz 

Well, that’s a very big question, because I got so much unexpected out of this project that I didn’t know. And one of the things listening to Bob described his experience of one word comes to mind for me, and that’s freedom, freedom to like. There’s no confinement. And this also musically pushed me. Bob has this way of just kind of in a very subtle, beautiful way of like I can feel it. It’s almost like he’s pushing me to the edge of what’s possible, like encouraging me, lovingly to explore a little bit more of my of the inherent musicality that doesn’t get expressed in my records normally. So there was, like, this wonderful freedom, and it was also the experience was, you know, in a large, a large way, me confronting my own imperfection. Because there’s a lot of stuff, you know, the normal way of making records, I’m punching in and on my sax tracks, and I’m making them really as much as perfect as I possibly can. Didn’t have the opportunity to do that with this record, because these are live recordings, so and there will be times where I would be playing, and I would be listening to Bob, and I would think to myself, Oh, this is this is not good. I’m playing terribly. But I know this is the take, because he’s playing so brilliantly. He’s like genius over there playing and and those are the the takes that we used, the takes, and I’m sure that there were takes where he felt like he was not quite perfect as well. But that’s the beauty of this whole thing, is this freedom to just show up as we are without trying to be perfect and so manicured, if you will. This is just raw, honest. I love the fact that you use that word, that word honesty, because that’s really what we were going for.

 

Patty Peterson (Jazz88) 

Right? What I love about this too, though I know you want to jump in here, but you know what it made me think of when I knew the two of you were doing this album together, and I couldn’t wait to hear the music and that you were touring behind it. It reminds me the day that Bill Evans and Tony Bennett went into the studio in 1975, did two albums worth of material, whether it was their intention or not. It was real. It was raw, humble, honest, naked, but it was the two of them, and the heart is at the center of it with both of these projects, yours and theirs. And that’s why I got excited about this.

 

Bob James 

Wow, wow, wow, because you couldn’t have brought up a better if also intimidating, to use as your example, because that’s one of my very, very favorite records. Bill Evans being one of my very, very favorite pianists that I always tried to emulate or copy or learn from. And on that project where he was by himself, he impressed me the most, because there was no place for him to hide, and he was the bass player and the drummer on that album, supporting Tony Bennett, both in the kind of pop way and taking Tony Bennett in the jazz way and the creativity that he displayed, I had definitely tried to learn from it, and it wasn’t directly on my mind when Dave and I did our project, but indirectly, what I have tried to learn making the piano be complete in and of itself was couldn’t be better illustrated than by Bill Evans.

 

Patty Peterson (Jazz88) 

Well, you guys got an opportunity to come back to yourselves, and that had to feel very enriching for your musical paths. I know my mom is a very strong piano player, and to sing with her, it was like we here we go. Very, very fun. And Dave had a chance to work with her. And Bob, I think that you have met Jeannie when she was still with us, but it is really the truth of your soul matching. And and every time that happens, I think that when a chord change is played a little differently than what you’re expecting, it made me become a different singer, Dave, like you were saying, you know, you got some things out of you that you were surprised with, maybe.

 

Dave Koz 

Well, yeah, musically and otherwise too, because I was staying in in Bob’s home, beautiful. I call it more of a compound than a home right on Long Lake in northern Michigan and Traverse City, and it was so gorgeous. You know, you wake up in the morning and Bob’s daughter, Hillary, son in law, granddaughter, Ava, they they embrace me at their home, almost like creating this bed and breakfast type of experience my own little area, which is a suite that was named after one of Bob’s very dear friends, Jack O’Brien. So it’s the Jack O’Brien suite slash Dave Koz, because I think I’ve certainly spent more nights there than Jack O’Brien over the last year. But it was also just like being part of Bob’s world. And one of the my favorite memories of the recording was not actually recording. It was going out to the back garden and having Bob give me a real tour of his Japanese garden, which is very legit, like you feel like you’re in in Japan, and it’s it’s very rare when you get a chance. I’ve collaborated with a lot of people over the years, but it’s very rare when you get a chance to really know the human being behind the musician. You have the opportunity to have that many days together and see their world, inside of their world, not just their world, in the studio and in a professional setting, but in their personal home setting. And that’s I think, as much of the project that I got from that as I did for the music.

 

Patty Peterson (Jazz88) 

Saxophonist Dave Koz talking with us today, as well as pianist Bob James, they’re coming to the Parkway theater March 25 here in Minneapolis, and we’re so grateful that they’re with us. I want to talk a little bit about some of the songs that people are going to hear when you are performing at the parkway theater coming up, because there had to be all of those wonderful reasons behind why you chose the titles of the songs. So have at it.

 

Bob James 

Well, if I can start one of the challenges for me in trying to interpret Dave’s compositions, repeating myself a little bit about the production aspect of it that I had to find a way to be rhythmic in a way that supported his original versions of those songs, and that would hold up in a dual mode and some like New Hope, very simple, very straightforward. They just required me to be a decent accompanist, but the more rhythmic ones, I’m still practicing it at home, hoping that I’ll have a groove happening by the time we get in front of a live audience.

 

Dave Koz 

And for me, it’s the the compositions, the challenge. For me, it was these, these incredible pieces of music that Bob wrote. I call them, there’s three of them, and I call them the anchors of this album, because they’re spaced out across the the 10 songs, the 11 songs, actually, and they, these are very complex pieces of music, and they’re so rich melodically, but they don’t necessarily. . .they’re not typical song form, so it makes it very hard to to memorize them. By the way, Bob, I’m just letting you know that I haven’t memorized those songs. I’m still going to need to read the music because of how complex they are.

 

Bob James 

Yeah, you will definitely see the iPad on my piano rack.

 

Patty Peterson (Jazz88) 

Why not? I mean, it’s called a confidence monitor in my world.

 

Bob James 

Thank you, Patty. Thank you for saying that. Because yeah, definitely is. And what do we need to have to prove in that way? Maybe there are some aspects of freeing yourself if you fully memorize but I I’d rather be more secure, even if I’m just using the music as a little bit of a reference, as a reminder, or occasionally referred to. I’m not reading it exactly, but just making sure that I stay secure and and in the interpreting mode.

Dave Koz 

Now, Bob has the heavy lifting of this tour, for sure. He’s the full band. I just have to play a melody. But I do also want to say that in addition to the music from the album that we’ll be playing, which, yes, Bob and I have decided that we’ll, we’ll, we’ll unearth some some of our past hits and apply this duo setting to that. And while we haven’t gotten together yet to rehearse the music, I know that I’m really excited about how, how Bob will interpret some of those songs of mine and me some of his melodies that are, that are etched in our brains and our  hearts forever. If people are fans of Bob’s or fans of mine, and have seen us in the past. You could get a little a little taste of the past in this duo setting as well.

Patty Peterson (Jazz88) 

The schedule is allowing us to prepare in a way that I’ve never had the same luxury before, because Dave found it in his schedule and willingness to come out a week early. So we will have no excuse. I shouldn’t be saying that to the Minneapolis audience, but it’s true that if we don’t have this music ready by then, we would never have it ready.  Honestly, there is something about being in the moment, though too, because you know, you’ll catch each other and you’ll, if it goes a different path, you’ll Your ears are so great, you’re going to be right there.

 

Dave Koz 

But I also want to say Patty, because we’ve, we’ve both had long careers, and Bob certainly longer than mine. But there’s a lot of stories that we we can lean on as well. And I want to bring the audience into the the magic of our friendship, and the stories that Bob can say, that they can tell. I mean, these are, these are magic pieces of of experience from his life. I have a couple from my life to share. So it’s really about bringing the audience in as the third musician of this it’s just going to be us on stage, but the audience is going to be a real huge part of this show, in a way that I’m really excited about, because we’ve never done anything remotely like this before.

 

Patty Peterson (Jazz88) 

Well, I’m excited for you. I think this is a great new level of who the two of you are as jazz musicians, as contemporary jazz musicians, and as friends. And I can’t wait for you to do this tour and for people to receive this album that way, that I know they’re going to so i want to say thank you for joining us here today. You being friends to the Peterson family, both of you, has meant so much to all of us and to Minneapolis as well. So thank you so much on all those levels. Appreciate your time here today.

 

Bob James 

Thank you, Patty

 

Dave Koz 

Patty, thank you so much. We love you and all the Petersons, all 712, of you.

 

Patty Peterson (Jazz88) 

Yes, it’s getting to be that way. Bob, James, Dave, cause thank you so much. Appreciate you both.

 

Dave Koz 

Lots of love.

 

 

More Posts for Show: The Afternoon Cruise