Rootabaga Jazz Festival

May 14-18, 2024 The Rootabaga Jazz Festival features the great trumpeter Victor Garcia with three different groups, along with the Knox Alumni Big Band, the Faculty and Friends Combo, the Knox Jazz Ensemble, and area junior high and high school big bands.  

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May 14, 2024

The Victor Garcia Quartet School Tour group
United HS
7:00pm
Free and open to the public

The Victor Garcia Quartet will perform a concert as part of the Rootabaga Jazz School Tour. On Tuesday, May 14th and Wednesday, May 15th, the group will tour seven area schools performing for elementary, junior high, and high school students.

May 15, 2024

Galesburg Junior High Big Band
ROWVA High School Big Band
Cherry St Combo with guest Victor Garcia
Cherry St Combo
Galesburg Community Arts Center 
6:00pm-10:00pm
Admission: $3, Knox Students free with ID

May 16, 2024

Faculty and Friends Combo
Galesburg Community Arts Center 
7:00pm-10:00pm
Admission: $5, Knox Students free with ID

The Faculty and Friends performance features Knox's accomplished jazz faculty and local jazz musicians from the vibrant live music community of central Illinois.

May 17, 2024

Galesburg High School Big Bands
6:00 p.m.- 7:30 p.m.

Knox Alumni Big Band 
7:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.

Victor Garcia Latin Sextet
8:30 p.m. - 11 p.m.

Galesburg Community Arts Center
Admission: $10/Knox Students free with ID

May 18, 2024

Rootabaga Kids: Victor Garcia Latin Sextet
Galesburg Public Library
10:00am
Free and open to the public

This free family friendly event promises to be a very engaging and entertaining experience for the whole family.

May 18, 2024

The Victor Garcia Quintet ft. vocalist Jill Katona
and the Knox Jazz Ensemble
Orpheum Theatre, 57 S. Kellogg St., Galesburg
7:00 p.m.
Pay what you can!

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GRAMMY-NOMINATED VICTOR GARCIA IS A MUSICAL FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH…
Examiner.com’s Neil Tesser calls him “one of the most exciting young musicians.” Chicago Tribune’s Howard Reich says that he “stands out as an ebullient soloist offering a formidable technique and a radiantly polished tone.” JazzChicago.net’s Brad Walseth regards him as a “young lion trumpeter.”

He’s as versatile as he is creative. His trumpet talent heralds his international acclaim. He sings, plays percussion, and his songwriting, arrangements and charts have led him to professorial positions at Roosevelt University, Loyola University and the University of Illinois in Chicago.

The lineup of greats he’s performed with speaks for itself: Aretha Franklin, Arturo Sandoval, Spoon, Monty Alexander, Wynton Marsalis, Victor Manuelle, Nicholas Payton, La India, the Temptations, Steve Turre, BeBe Winans, Tito Puente, Jr., Paquito d’Rivera, Randy Brecker, Branford Marsalis, The Isley Brothers, and Dr. John. He released his debut album, The Grind/The Groove, in 2018 and he’s recorded on dozens of other albums, three of them Grammy-nominated.