KASU's Jazz Thursday comes early in October, features Matt Lucas

JONESBORO, Ark. — Arkansas State University’s next KASU Jazz Thursday concert will be a little earlier than usual. While Jazz Thursday is traditionally on the fourth Thursday of each month, it’s moving up to the third Thursday — Oct. 17. Matt Lucas will be the featured artist at 6:30 p.m., at The Arts, 311 in downtown Jonesboro.

Lucas is a drummer, singer, and songwriter who grew up in Poplar Bluff, Mo., listening to big band music on the radio and dreaming of becoming a jazz musician. He started his musical career playing jazz, but soon found his way to Los Angeles where his musical tastes expanded to include doo-wop, soul, and rhythm-and-blues influences.

Lucas started playing rock-and-roll in the mid-1950s in clubs around Chicago and Saint Louis. Then on a trip back to Southeast Missouri in 1956, he met Narvel Felts. By 1960, he was a member of the Narvel Felts Trio. In 1963, Matt Lucas recorded a rocked-up version of the Hank Snow song, “I’m Movin’ On.” The record became a hit on black radio stations, but struggled for airtime on white stations. The song made it to number 56 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart that year.

After struggling with alcoholism and recovering from a heart attack in the 1970s, Lucas spent the next 20 years or so entertaining audiences in clubs, on cruise ships, and on the Delta Queen riverboat, with a mix of rock-n-roll, jazz, and blues.

Today, Matt Lucas continues to tour throughout the U.S. and Canada. He is a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and the International Rockabilly Hall of Fame. Matt Lucas shares his love of jazz, influenced by blues, soul, and rock-and-roll, at The Arts at 311 for this month’s KASU Jazz Thursday concert. The concert will be October 17th, starting at 6:30 p.m.

KASU-FM 91.9 presents Jazz Thursday concerts each month, at The Arts at 311, a performance venue located at 311 South Church Street in downtown Jonesboro. The concerts are sponsored by The Arts at 311, Infectious Disease and Control Consultants, and Gregg-Langford Bookout Funeral Home. Thanks to these sponsors, there is no admission charge, but KASU passes a hat for the performers during the concert.

KASU is the public broadcasting service of Arkansas State University. For more information on KASU's Jazz Thursday concert series, or any other concert series sponsored by KASU 91.9 FM, contact Mike Doyle (mdoyle@astate.edu), KASU station manager, at (870) 972-3486.