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This year will mark the 15^th anniversary of the Dave Koz and Friends Christmas tour, and he’s making sure the tour’s special guests are even more special than usual.

This year’s dates will kick off November 23 at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota, Fla., and the trek is scheduled to run through December 23, when the group will appear at the Warfield Theatre in San Francisco.

In between these dates, Koz and company will hit a slew of cities all over the U.S., including West Palm Beach, Fla.; Atlanta; Newport News, Va.; Cleveland, Ohio; Chicago; Denver Colorado Springs; El Paso; Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

Joining Koz will be legendary drummer and percussionist Sheila E., David Benoit and Javier Colon. The latter sang on Koz’s 2003 album Saxophonic and is also known for becoming the winner of the first season of NBC’s “The Voice.” Benoit is a pianist and composer who was in the 1997 lineup of the first Dave Koz and Friends Christmas Tour, and was instrumental in the tour’s creation.

“I think the Christmas season gives us all a chance to go back in time, it’s so nostalgic – and music plays such a big role in bringing out that feeling,” Koz said in a press release about the tour. “It never ceases to blow me away, how much people love holiday songs – as evidenced by our 15^th anniversary of this tour! This year especially, we’ll try to fit in as many favorites as possible and add our own unique touches along the way.”

Koz’s most recent album is Hello Tomorrow, which was released in October 2010. The record was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album in 2011 and also was named Best Smooth Jazz Album of 2010 by iTunes.