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AE: "Over the Rainbow" and "As Time Goes By" include snippets of dialogue from the movies with which they are associated. Why did you choose to do that? Does it have to do with what you were saying about not having Casablanca without "As Time Goes By"?
DK: Yeah. I always thought that this album should start by placing the listener in a movie theater. So the idea was: Let's start with "Over the Rainbow"; let's use a little snippet of Judy Garland from The Wizard of Oz. Then it will start with that very old-sounding, crackly, mono sound to this beautiful open image with the orchestra coming in.

Well, that was an idea; little did I know that we could actually make it a reality, and it was much to my surprise that we were able to get the rights for a fraction of what I thought it was going to cost to use that. The same thing for this little piece to introduce "As Time Goes By." This record is about nostalgia and romance. Every opportunity that we could take to bring that back — this sort of old-world charm, old Hollywood charm — we chose it. I felt like those were mini scenes that we could use and would put that listener into the movie theater again for that experience.

AE: I'm glad you mentioned that level of romance, because there are few people who are considered to be as romantic a singer as Johnny Mathis.
DK: [Laughs.]

AE: You've got him on "The Shadow of Your Smile." What was it like to work with him on that song?
DK: Well, you're right: The guy is probably [the reason] for more births in the world than any other human being. And he is in his early 70s and sounding, as you can hear, better than ever. I was totally blown away that he said yes. I went over to his house to show him the music and explain how it was going to happen. We used this format that was very popular in the '40s, where there would be a long instrumental stating the melody, and then the vocals would come in later. That was very popular at one time; we sort of brought that back.

I was sitting with him and kind of gave him the nod of where he should come in and sing. And he opened his mouth and started to sing, and I was like, "Oh my God, you sound just like Johnny Mathis. Holy s---, you are Johnny Mathis! I am in your house, and you're singing on my record. What has happened to me?" And especially because this is a man my parents listened to — like everybody's parents. He's still at the top of his game, healthy and very active, plays golf every day, tours a hundred dates a year, and sounding just incredible. Needless to say, it was a huge honor to have him.

AE: Of all the songs on the disc, "The Pink Panther" would seem to lend itself best to the kind of contemporary jazz interpretation for which you are best known. Where would you rank "Pink Panther" composer Henry Mancini on the list of film music composers?
DK: I would say that he would probably be number one for me. It's sad; I didn't get a chance to meet him in my lifetime, but I feel like I've gotten to know him because [of] his two daughters who have become very good friends. And his wife, Ginny Mancini, has become a very big supporter of mine, and I've been over to their home. I've actually played the piano that he wrote "Moon River" on. I feel very connected to Henry Mancini.

What came out of that mind, you can't help but say, "Oh my God, this guy had the greatest sense of humor!" [Laughs.] "Baby Elephant Walk" and "Pink Panther," those two songs alone — he was a quirky guy with [a] great sense of humor who was able to capture the spirit of human behavior with notes. That's a very hard thing to do. It's a hard thing to put it into words. I don't know how to do that, and he was able to capture a moment in musical form and be able to tell a story with just a few notes.

And interestingly enough in this day and age, last year, as far as ring tones on telephones, it's ["The Pink Panther"] the number six ring tone with nearly 400,000 downloads. This is a song that does not go out of style. Kids love it, adults and of course, old people that remember the original version, love it as well. It had to be on this album; that's the way I felt about it. But I know that I couldn't improve upon the original — the original was perfect, so I knew I had to change the instruments. I played it on soprano instead of tenor. Instead of a pink cat, mine is like a pink kitten.

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