GALESBURG - The 23rd annual Rootabaga Jam Jazz Festival, March 13-15 in Galesburg, will feature Mose Allison, a seminal figure in the fusion of jazz and blues who has been called "an American original, truly a national treasure," by The New York Times. Allison will perform March 15 in the Orpheum Theatre in Galesburg. The award-winning Knox College Jazz Ensemble will open for Allison.

Other bands performing March 13 and 14 at Cherry Street Restaurant will include Zach Brock and the Coffee Achievers, the Knox Faculty Jazz Combo, the Knox Alumni Big Band and the Rootabaga Jammers.

Brock and his band also will perform and work with high school bands on Saturday, March 15 in the Orpheum Theatre.

• More about Zach Brock and the high school festival

Allison has been playing and singing his distinctive, Mississippi-based crossover of jazz and blues for over 40 years and has influenced musicians in the fields of jazz, blues and rock. Rolling Stone magazine said Allison is "a classic, a cool comic sage offering ironic advice for survival. His music is a happy jumble of bebop, Delta blues, boogie-woogie, careening chromaticism and Beethovian drama."

Allison's songs have been recorded by artists as diverse as The Who, Bonnie Raitt, the Yardbirds with Eric Clapton, Elvis Costello, and the Bangles. Van Morrison, Georgie Fame and Ben Sidran recently collaborated on a tribute album to Allison entitled "Tell Me Something, The Songs of Mose Allison." Some of Allison's better known songs include "Seventh Son," "Parchman Farm," and "Everybody Cryin' Mercy."

"Mose Allison is absolutely amazing, and you have to see him to realize just what an impact he has had on both blues and jazz," said Scott Garlock, the director of the Rootabaga Jam Festival and associate professor of music at Knox College.

Musicians from all over the world have acknowledged their debt to Allison. Bonnie Raitt has been quoted as saying, "I don't know any musicians who don't love Mose Allison…, his appeal cuts across all musical boundaries. In the over twenty years I've been going to see him live, he's blown me away every time." Mick Taylor of the Rolling Stones has said, "If you were British playing blues in the 1960s, you were influenced by Mose Allison," and legendary bluesman Willie Dixon said, "Mose Allison is a beautiful musician."

Also featured this year is Zach Brock and the Coffee Achievers. Brock, born in Lexington, Kentucky, is an award-winning jazz violinist who has performed with such stellar musicians as Laurence Hobgood, Johnny Frigo and Willie Pickens. Orbert Davis, acclaimed trumpeter, composer and educator, has described Brock as "not just a violinist who plays jazz, but a jazz musician who happens to play the violin."

Brock will conduct a non-competitive workshop for local high school jazz musicians from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on March 15. "This will be a tremendous opportunity for students to both learn from, and play for and with one of the new stars in jazz, and they will have a lot of fun doing it," said Garlock.

The Knox Jazz Ensemble, which has been invited to appear at the prestigious North Texas jazz festival, will perform the opening set on Saturday night at the Orpheum.

Rootabaga Schedule

Thursday, March 13 - Knox Faculty and Friends Jazz Combo, featuring Scott Garlock, Andy Crawford, Kevin Malley, Larry Harms, Kevin Hart, Danny Leahy and Manny Lopez. Cherry St. Bier Garten, 57 S. Cherry St., 8:00 p.m. to midnight, admission is $7.00 at the door.

Friday, March 14 -In the Cherry St. Bier Garten, Zach Brock and the Coffee Achievers will headline from 9:30 p.m. to midnight. The Knox Jazz Alumni Big Band plays at the Party Room at Cherry St. from 8:00 p.m. to 9:15 p.m., followed by the Rootabaga Jammers under the direction of Bob Clark from 9:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Admission is $10.00 at the door and includes all three bands.

Saturday, March 15 -Morning and afternoon: area schools perform in non-competitive workshops under the guidance and direction of Zach Brock and the Coffee Achievers at the Orpheum Theatre, 57 S. Kellogg St. 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. At lunch, the Illinois Central College Jazz Ensemble will perform. Admission is $3.00 at the door.

Saturday, March 15 - The Mose Allison Trio performs at the Orpheum Theatre, with the award-winning Knox Jazz Ensemble opening the show. Tickets are $15.00 (main floor) and $12.00 (balcony), and may be purchased in advance at the Orpheum Theatre box office, located at 60 S. Kellogg St.

Founded in 1837, Knox is a national liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois, with students from 45 states and 42 nations. Knox's "Old Main" is a National Historic Landmark and the only building remaining from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates.

Writer: Don Burt

More Info:
Mose Allison
Zach Brock
Knox College Jazz

Photo: Mose Allison. [Download for publication]