By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
HawkFest begins this evening in downtown St. Joseph.
HawkFest brings blues and jazz to Coleman Hawkins Park, a celebration honoring the legacy of St. Joseph-born jazz saxophonist, Coleman Hawkins.
Missouri Western Director of Jazz Studies, Bob Long, a member of the Coleman Hawkins Jazz Society, sees a growing popularity for jazz among the youth.
“It’s been great to watch how that has developed and how the students take hold of that,” Long tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. “UMKC has a great jazz program going right now. We have one going out here. You see it happening at all the colleges right now. It’s exciting to see.”
Long says many have a misconception of jazz, thinking of the more traditional jazz of musicians such as Louis Armstrong.
“But the term jazz incorporates so much more than that,” Long says. “It can incorporate straight ahead swing. It can include what we call fusion and funk, all these different styles. And also, some more modern styles. It infuses all those factors into one new genre.”
Long invites everyone to come to downtown St. Joseph to take in a wide variety of music.
“Hoping they get an understanding about what jazz is about, maybe they’ll find something there they really like and a certain style,” Long says. “The other thing I want them to come away with is just seeing the excitement of the youth performing and see the future of this music is moving forward with the youth. That to me is as important as anything else.”
The blues takes center stage Friday night at Coleman Hawkins Park with performances beginning at six o’clock Jazz takes over Saturday afternoon, beginning at 1:30.
HawkFest is free and open to the public.
You can follow Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.