Knox-Rootabaga Jazz Festival, March 8-10

The Knox-Rootabaga Jazz Festival, March 8-10, will feature the Ben Allison Quartet and the Happy Apple jazz band, along with performances from Knox College student, faculty and alumni jazz bands.

The Knox Faculty and Friends Combo will perform Thursday, March 8, at 8 p.m. in McGillacuddy's, 58 S. Cherry, Galesburg. Tickets are $7 at the door. The band features Cassie Hart, Kevin Malley, and Larry Harms, saxophonoes; Scott Garlock, trombone; Dave Hoffman, trumpet and piano; Semenya McCord, vocals; John Miller, guitar; Nikki Whittaker, vibraphone; Jon Wegge, bass; and Kevin Hart, drums.

The Knox College Alumni Big Band and Happy Apple, a free-form jazz band, will perform Friday, March 9 in McGillacuddy's. The big band, directed by Garlock, former director of the Knox-Rootabaga Jazz Festival, will perform at 8 p.m. Happy Apple will perform at 9:30 p.m. Admission for both events is $10 at the door.

On Saturday, March 10, members of Happy Apple will conduct a day-long series of workshops with area high school jazz bands in the Orpheum Theatre, 60 S. Kellogg, Galesburg. Admission to the non-competitive high school jazz workshops is free.

This year's festival headliner, The Ben Allison Quartet, will perform with the Knox College Jazz Ensemble at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, March 10, in the Orpheum Theatre. Admission is $12 and $14 at the door, plus a $2 per ticket theatre preservation fee.

Named "Bassist of the Year" for 2005 by Downbeat magazine, Ben Allison has been praised as a "visionary composer, adventurous improviser, and rising star" by JazzTimes magazine and as "one of today's best young jazz musicians" by the Boston Globe. He has performed at concerts and festivals throughout the United States, Canada and Europe and, as artistic director of the Jazz Composers Collective, has produced or coproduced over 100 concerts. Allison has played bass on more than 25 albums by various artists and released seven albums of his own music, including his latest "Cowboy Justice," which received a 2006 National Performance Award from SESAC, the Canadian music licensing organization. Allison has composed for film, theatre, television and radio, including the theme for the National Public Radio show "On the Media."

Based in Minneapolis, Happy Apple was founded in 1996 by David King, drums; Michael Lewis, saxophones; and Erik Fratzke bass. All three have written the works that have been recorded on six albums, including their latest, "The Peace Between Our Companies."

The Knox-Rootabaga Jazz Festival was founded in 1980 and has brought many top jazz artists to Galesburg, including Kurt Elling, Benny Green, Matt Wilson, Frank Mantooth, Greg Osby, Curtis Fuller, Mose Allison, and the Hornheads. The festival is named after the book "Rootabaga Stories," a book of children's stories written in 1922 by Galesburg native Carl Sandburg.

Founded in 1837, Knox is a national liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois, with students from 46 states and 46 nations. Knox's 'Old Main' is a National Historic Landmark and the only building remaining from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates.