Jazz Year

39th Annual Knox-Rootabaga Jazz Festival

Donate to Rootabaga or Purchase Tickets
April 2-6, 2019

The Knox-Rootabaga Jazz Festival, a five-day event that partners Knox College, the Galesburg community, and local artists and musicians, has been a part of the Knox's Department of Music for more than 35 years. The festival boasts performances by the Knox Jazz Ensemble, faculty, alumni, and guest artists. The festival focuses on collaborations between guest artists and students, and performances in various venues around the community: local bars, schools, and libraries.

The 2019 Knox-Rootabaga Jazz Festival features the Xavier Breaker Coalition, Mark Guiliana Space Heroes, the Nikki Malley Quintet, the Knox Alumni Big Band, Faculty and Friends Combo, and the Knox Jazz Ensemble.

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Knox Winter Jazz Series

Luciano Antonio Brazilian Quartet
RESCHEDULED for April 27, 2019

The Knox Winter Jazz series showcases global artists with diverse cultural perspectives. Artists perform at a free concert and engage in one-on-one experiential programming with Knox students and the Galesburg community. Students treasure the opportunity to see performers up-close-and-personal, with fewer barriers between 'performer' and 'audience' allowing for a more holistic appreciation of the artistic process.

This year features the return of the Winter Jazz Series very first artist, Brazilian guitarist and vocalist Luciano Antonio.

Jerome Mirza Jazz Residency

The Caroline Davis and Rob Clearfield Quartet
November 4-8, 2019

The Jerome Mirza Jazz Residency is designed to benefit Knox students, jazz practitioners, and audiences of jazz lovers from the Galesburg and surrounding communities by bringing world-renowned jazz artists to campus for a week of intensive and collaborative jazz activities, culminating in a free public concert. The Jerome Mirza Foundation supports programs in education and the arts and was created by a bequest from Jerome Mirza, an attorney who served as president of the Illinois State Bar Association and Illinois Trial Lawyers Association. Mirza was a passionate jazz aficionado, and Knox College is pleased to have this opportunity to honor his memory by sharing the love of jazz with the campus and Galesburg communities. Mirza's daughter, Candace Mirza of Wilmette, Illinois, is a 1981 Knox graduate.