Lucas Gillan's Many Blessings
Marquis Hill, trumpet
Jonathon Edwards, bari sax
Dan Thatcher, bass
Lucas Gillan, drums
Lucas Gillan's Many Blessings is a young jazz group that finds a home in the meeting point between clever composition and fiery improvisation. A Tucson, AZ native who grew up playing as much punk and hardcore as jazz, Gillan is known both as the program director of Internet radio station AccuJazz.com and as an active drummer in Chicago's jazz scene. Completing the group's lineup is Marquis Hill on trumpet, Jonathon Edwards on baritone sax, and Dan Thatcher on bass. Gillan's compositions betray the influence of his heroes, Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus, but have a modern style of their own, incorporating odd time signatures, extended forms, free improvisation and, at times, a melodic sensibility informed by Gillan's work as a solo singer-songwriter.