CAIRO, Ill. — The 8th annual Smooth Jazz Festival kicked off Sunday, presented by the Harold S. Jones Fine Arts Center and featuring a collection of jazz musicians from across the region performing at the Cairo Regional Airport.
One of the music groups takes to the stage.
Tyler Schmidt
The event took place from 2 p.m., to 10 p.m., and was free and open to the public.
Founder Harold S. Jones spoke about the importance of jazz as a genre and music in general.
“As you know, music is a communication instrument,” he said. “And nothing communicates better than tunes and things that people are already familiar with. That’s why we try to go to smooth jazz for songs that people recognize.”
He said that while the first festival was in Downtown Cairo at the Heritage Stage before moving it to Fort Defiance State Park, but are now choosing the Cairo Airport as the venue in order to help expose the “hidden gem.”
Founder of the Cairo Smooth Jazz Festival, Harold S. Jones.
Tyler Schmidt
“Most people come through here; they don’t even know Cairo has an airport,” he said. “And as you can see, beautiful facility, a huge campus, and we’re trying to bring more activity from the region here.”
He said that though the community reacts slowly to new things such as the festival, he said that regardless, the event is regional and that there are many jazz enthusiasts throughout the tri-state area.
“So one thing about this particular region, there’s something on the menu for everybody,” he said. “If you like jazz, this is where you go. If you like blues, then next weekend they’re doing the blues festival [in] Downtown Cairo.”
He said that organizers were fortunate to have faculty from the Southern Illinois University jazz department visiting, faculty from Southeast Missouri State University’s jazz program, The Todd Hill Quintet from Murray, Kentucky, the Soul Jazz Coalition, and the Jazz Patrol.
A musician with one of the bands plays a saxophone.
Tyler Schmidt
He encouraged people to show up, even if they are particularly new to jazz music.
“This is a good entry level because you’re getting something that’s not really jazz purist,” he said. “So this is jazz light, and it’s a cultural environment, but it’s… a stepping stone in development of the ear for the jazz idiom.”
Mel Goot, pianist for the Southern Illinois Soul Jazz Coalition, who opened the program for this year’s festival, said he’s been participating in the jazz festivals for 8 years now.
He said he helped to put together the background musicians for various headliners for the event, and shared how he uses his various connections in the region and nationwide in order to help bring in talented and unique artists.
Pianist for the Southern Illinois Soul Jazz Coalition, Mel Goot.
Tyler Schmidt
“I think it’s important to… support the music, and we’ve got to take the music to the people, and so you can only get so far in your living room,” he said. “And so I think it’s important to perform at school, of course, at church, and so what is cool about what’s going on here is that Mr. Jones has given the artists from a tri-state area a chance to play in a major festival, and so that’s been a really cool thing.”
He said the festival has grown year after year, and said he enjoyed this year’s venue at the airport over past years at the park.
“I think this venue serves us better, and I think that it’s important to keep putting jazz out there,” he said. “It’s America’s contribution to the world of music, and it comes to us from the Black experience in America, and so it’s important to get young people everywhere to learn about the history and the beginnings of the music, and what to do to continue it, to perpetuate it.”
He spoke about what jazz means to him, and how he resonates with the music.
Musicians playing jazz.
Tyler Schmidt
“It’s Black American music, and so the fact that we have this many people interested in it… you do not have to be Black to play it, that’s the beautiful thing about it. But you can learn about it and make your contribution, and all over Europe, it’s something that’s really appreciated and perpetuated almost more than here in this country.”
He said he likes the idea of using music as a tool to bring people together.
“Ultimately, it’s about the music and the people,” he said. “And at the end of the day, if people have a good time… maybe they’ll buy a CD, and maybe they’ll search out something that is jazz, smooth jazz or otherwise.”
Goot said for those interested in learning more about jazz, his advice is to find a mentor, and stay away from AI.
“Find a human and learn about this language,” he said. “It’s a language. Music is a language with only twelve letters in the alphabet, so find out something about it,” he said.
For those who missed it and are interested in future events, Jones said to keep up with the Harold S. Jones Fine Arts Center Facebook page for anything upcoming.