Despite the ultra-serious, beyond-hip collective personae we assign jazz musicians, they're folks just like the rest of us. Louis Armstrong endorsed (and heartily believed in the restorative properties of) Swiss Kriss laxative. Wynton Marsalis takes a basketball with him on his tour bus and often pulls over at random playgrounds for some relaxing hoops.

It's not odd, then, that Jay Beckenstein, founding saxophonist of the multi-platinum Spyro Gyra, doesn't answer the phone when a journalist calls for a prearranged interview - for which he profusely apologizes 15 minutes later.

"I couldn't hear the phone," he says from his home in upstate New York. "My dog peed on the rug, and I was on the porch washing the stain with a hose. Dogs are the greatest, but they do come with dog limitations."

In that context, a conversation with Beckenstein is a hilarious and entertaining experience that fuses jazz history, road stories, anecdotes about places he's traveled and musicians he's known and, of course, his 40-year career as a pioneering member of one of the premier acts in the controversial but undeniably popular movement called "smooth jazz."

Spyro Gyra perform tonight as a presentation of Bring Our Music Back in Waterford's Harkness Memorial State Park. The Shiny Lapel Trio and School of Rock Madison are the opening acts. Picnicking is encouraged.

Spyro Gyra is touring behind a new album called "The Rhinebeck Sessions," recorded in the gorgeous titular historic hamlet in the Hudson Valley. Conceptually, it's a very different record for the band.

"We've been playing together for so long that we were looking for a new angle in making a record," Beckenstein says. "Our albums are very eclectic because you have five songwriters with different backgrounds and ambitions - and we each bring finished songs into the studio. This time, we decided to write all together and homogenize the personality differences and emphasize the improvisational qualities. I think it worked really well." Beckenstein laughs. "But, then, maybe it's not so different. We can't take the distinctive musical voices out of the mix no matter how many molds we're trying to break."

By this point, it probably isn't possible for Spyro Gyra to sound like anything but Spyro Gyra, a chops-happy band whose fusion of jazz, R&B, pop and world music has delighted fans and, often, infuriated purists who regard "smooth jazz" as exercises in blasphemous dilution.

"When we started, we were just having fun, experimenting with different styles of music we liked, and it took off," Beckenstein says. "It's funny. The wonder of jazz is that it's always been about change. Louis Armstrong was not Charlie Parker, who was not John Coltrane. To us, Spyro Gyra is always growing. We travel to different parts of the world and even the U.S., and the experiences influence and inspire. There's always new powder for the keg."

As much as "The Rhinebeck Sessions" energized and inspired the band, Beckenstein says they don't grow tired of playing hits like "Shaker Song," "Shakedown," "Autumn of Love" or "Morning Dance" because the songs still resonate with audiences in a huge way.

Does Beckenstein still remember coming up with the indelible hook in "Morning Dance," and did he have any prescient inkling that it would become an iconic tune?

"I actually do remember when it happened," he says. "I had a girlfriend who was a dancer, and I'd play the piano for her while she did her morning warmup exercises. And this riff just came out - a sweet little melody. Did I think it would be a hit? Of course not. I was so pretentious back then I didn't care about sweet little melodies. Not me. I was about making bold and angular jazz." He chuckles. "Clearly, I'm glad I followed up.”

Spyro Gyra, gates open at 5 tonight, music starts at 6 p.m., Harkness Memorial State Park, 275 Great Neck Road, Waterford; Bring Our Music Back with opening acts The Shiny Lapels Trio and School of Rock Madison; $32 advance, $35 gate, $125 VIP includes hospitality tent, buffet dinner and open beer and wine bar; (860) 691-3065.