Knox Rootabaga Jazz Festival, April 12-16

Thanks to a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the 2016 Knox-Rootabaga Jazz Festival is continuing its educational outreach program in the local community.

The $10,000 grant from the NEA's Challenge American Program will enable the festival to continue the Rootabaga Jazz School Tour.

The tour consists of a day of concerts at local schools on April 12 and 13, including a free, public concert at 7 p.m., April 12 at the Knoxville High School Auditorium.

The festival will feature shows Thursday and Friday, April 14 and 15, at Fat Fish Pub in Galesburg, along with two shows on Saturday, April 16 -- Rootabaga Kids on Saturday morning at the Galesburg Public Library and the headliner concert Saturday evening at Galesburg's Orpheum Theatre. The full festival schedule is below.

Tickets can be purchased at the door at each event or in advance through the Knox College website.

The in-school concerts feature guest saxophonist Geof Bradfield backed by regional jazz artists -- Todd Kelly, trumpet; Kevin Hart, piano; Andy Crawford, bass; Jason Brannon, drums; and Nikki Malley, vibes. The concerts will be held at Knoxville High School and Nielson, Silas Willard, Steele, Gale, and King schools, and Costa Catholic Academy in Galesburg.

"The NEA grant has enabled the Knox-Rootabaga Jazz Festival to expand and showcase our own regional jazz artists and to bring in a nationally renowned performer, saxophonist Geof Bradfield, for in-school activities and a free community performance," said Malley, associate professor of music and director of jazz studies at Knox. Based in Chicago, Bradfield has toured worldwide and performed on numerous recordings. His own critically acclaimed CDs  include "African Flowers," praised by JazzTimes.net for its "depth and complexity," and "Melba!" which was selected as one of the best CDs of 2013 by DownBeat Magazine (PDF).

This year's Knox-Rootabaga Jazz Festival features guest artists Matuto, which blends South American, bluegrass and jazz; and Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band -- plus the Knox College Jazz Ensemble, Knox Faculty and Friends Combo and the Knox Alumni Big Band.

Brian Blade is recognized as one of the world's leading drummers and is equally renowned as bandleader, sideman, and composer. His career includes nearly 15 years as drummer for Wayne Shorter, and recording and touring engagements with Bob Dylan, EmmyLou Harris, Joni Mitchell, Norah Jones, John Scofield and Kenny Werner. Blade's own projects include a popular jazz collective The Fellowship Band.

Opening for Blade is the award-winning Knox Jazz Ensemble, directed by Malley, which will have recently returned from a concert tour of China.

Matuto, which also will present the free Rootabaga Kids concert at the Galesburg Public Library, combines the urban beat of Brazilian with influences of American jazz, blues, bluegrass, and folk.

The NEA's Challenge America program supports projects that extend the reach of the arts to underserved populations. In the first round of funding for the current fiscal year, NEA announced awards totaling more than $27.6 million.

The Knox-Rootabaga Jazz Festival has drawn leading jazz artists to Galesburg for more than three decades. The festival was founded in 1980 at Carl Sandburg College by Galesburg residents Mona and Tom Tourlentes, who named it after Rootabaga Stories, a children's book by famed Galesburg author Carl Sandburg, who intentionally misspelled "rutabaga" for the book's title.

Top of page: Brian Blade; below, Knox student, faculty and alumni bands; more photos on Flickr from earlier festivals and jazz at Knox.