Texas Jazz Festival celebrates the life of Bobby Galvan Sr., a founding member, as the community reflects on his impact on Corpus Christi’s music scene.<\/p>\n
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas \u2014 This year\u2019s Texas Jazz Festival took on a different note, one of remembrance, as the community honored the late Bobby Galvan Sr., a founding member of the long-running event.<\/p>\n
Surrounded by fellow musicians and community members, Judge Bobby Galvan Jr. took the stage to pay tribute to his father, who helped lay the foundation for Corpus Christi\u2019s musical legacy.<\/p>\n
In the audience, cousin Bobby Gonzalez proudly recorded the emotional moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Galvan brothers were some of the greatest musicians in the history of Corpus Christi,\u201d Gonzalez said.<\/p>\n
The Galvan family’s love for music spans generations. It all began when Bobby Galvan Sr.\u2019s father, Rafael Galvan, built the Galvan Ballroom in 1949. Located at the corner of Agnes Street and Crosstown Expressway on the city\u2019s West Side, the venue hosted legendary jazz performers like Duke Ellington and Count Basie.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a family of music, of happiness. We lived in the Galvan house right next to us and it was a beautiful home that was filled with music,\u201d Gonzalez added.<\/p>\n
Nick Martinez with the Texas Jazz Festival says Bobby Galvan Sr. was one of the event\u2019s founders in 1959. What started as a simple jam session eventually grew into the formal jazz festival by 1961.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they created this, the Galvan family, they had nowhere to play, they had nowhere to be, and so they created – not even just a festival – it was just a jam session,\u201d Martinez said. \u201cIt didn\u2019t become a jazz festival until 1961.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martinez also shared how Galvan worked to ensure music was accessible to younger generations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey used to lease out instruments to the high school. And even some of the elementary schools got violins,\u201d Martinez said. \u201cSo all these things that they produced for the schools and the families that couldn\u2019t afford it, the Galvan family made it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luis Reyna, a friend of Judge Galvan Jr., said he came to the festival this year to support the family and honor their contributions.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing here with Judge Galvan and his father\u2019s legacy, they are a pillar of our community, and they\u2019re also the people who have served our community. Just very good people,\u201d Reyna said.<\/p>\n
Though Bobby Galvan Sr. has passed, Gonzalez said his uncle\u2019s legacy continues to inspire.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just great to be here on these grounds watching Bobby Galvan honor his father and his uncles right next to the Galvan house, where we all grew up listening to some of the greatest music,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The Texas Jazz Festival celebrates one more day of music Sunday, Oct. 19, from 12 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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