Southeast Missouri State jazz series kicks off with appearance by Mike Dumey

"Come fly with me, let's fly let's fly away." Those lyrics are from one of Frank Sinatra's biggest hits; it and many more will fill the air tonight at the Bedell Performance Hall at the River Campus.

"Something Old, Something New" is the first in the Southeast Missouri State University jazz series and will feature local favorite Mike Dumey. Associate professor of music Robert Conger asked Dumey to participate.

Dumey said Conger "invited me to sing a couple of Sinatra tunes, and that's going to be cool. I'm honored to do it, and it's going to be a fun evening."

Dumey has entertained in the Cape Girardeau area for 30 years and also teaches vocal music at Cape Girardeau Central Junior High.

"Bob [Conger] heard me this summer singing with the Cape Community Band and I did some Michael Buble, some big band things," Dumey said. After hearing that performance, Conger invited him to be a guest vocalist with the jazz ensemble.

Jazz was once the dominant form of American music and many music historians agree that it is the only true American art form.

"The masses loved jazz in the 1930s and '40s," Conger said. "When I was a kid I heard Count Basie's band touring and the crowd was sold out. Buddy Rich's band, I heard Woody Herman's band; I heard Duke Ellington's band when I was a kid, and they were always sold out. It's just that it's out of the mainstream now. This concert we're doing is featuring a lot of the older charts.

"When you listen to a CD or hear something on TV or the radio it's not live. Live music has a certain charm to it because there is a certain electricity in the air that never makes through on a recording, in my opinion."

Tonight's performance includes the Southeast Studio Jazz Ensemble, fresh from a tour in Edinburgh, Scotland, along with the Jazz Lab Band.

Conger said the bands will be playing "some of the stuff that was big charts when jazz was in its heyday," such as "Moonlight Serenade" and "Sing, Sing, Sing."

"Something Old, Something New" starts at 7:30 p.m. today at the Bedell.