An Illinois Jazz-y Affair!

Music is therapeutic and can heal one’s troubled mind and soul. Music has a power to speak inside our hearts and minds. It is capable to touch our heart and our soul. The power of music is present in every song. It has the effect to speak into our hearts.

The Rootabaga Jazz festival in Illinois is a much anticipated event for artists, musicians and enthusiasts. It was first discovered in 1980 at Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg, Illinois until it was transferred in 1992 at the Knox College. The Rootabaga Jazz Festival features musicians and artists in their high school, collegiate, and junior high school standing. They welcome local and international jazz artists to join with them in the celebration.

Jazz is a genre of Music that originated from African- American music tradition. Jazz music is primarily an American musical form of art. The Rootabaga Jazz festival also offers talented guest artists from all over the world to hare their unique talents among the students of Knox College and other Jazz enthusiasts. There are many variations of jazz that are being introduced year after year.

In 1920′s a danceable form of music which has Jazz origins is called the Swing. It was a dance craze that people all loved and performed during parties. Large skirts of women had also adopted the name Swing skirts to resemble the flirty gesture it brings as it skirts upward due to the dances fast beats. The Swing is best performed as a pair of man and woman.

The 1960s brought about another famous Jazz revival which is the Soul Jazz. This contemporary music form has strong influences on rhythm and blues, gospel and blues. The term Soul Jazz was then adopted up to now as a jargon for an African American silky voice- connoting it to be a soulful voice.