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Lucas Gillan

Originally from Tucson, AZ, Lucas is an up-and-coming drummer on the Chicago jazz scene.

About Me

Growing up in Tucson, AZ with an evangelical pastor father and amateur drummer mother, Lucas Gillan latched on to music at an early age. His formative years were spent performing in settings as varied as possible in a city the size of Tucson. Getting his start by drumming in church, Gillan eventually became deeply involved in the city’s underground rock scene, playing both drums and guitar in punk, hardcore and indie rock groups for audiences of his peers. All the while, he remained devoted to the craft of jazz drumming, studying privately with local authority Fred Hayes, playing in city-wide youth jazz ensembles, frequenting the city’s weekly jam sessions, and eventually gigging professionally around town.

He left Arizona to further his jazz studies at Northern Illinois University, whose recent alumni include notable Chicago jazz innovators Dave Miller, Greg Ward and Willerm Delisfort. NIU afforded Gillan the opportunity to tour and perform with a number of jazz greats, including Charles McPherson, John Clayton, Antonio Hart and Claudio Roditi. Now living and working in Chicago, he has gigged with established players like Fareed Haque, Bob Perna, Erin McDougald and Jerry Devivo as well as fellow talented youngsters such as Josh Moshier, Matt Ulery, Greg Spero, and Stuart Mindeman.

At this point, Gillan is perhaps best known as the man behind AccuJazz.com, a popular and innovative Internet jazz radio service. The job gives Gillan an uncommonly vivid perspective on the state of the current jazz scene, which is packed wall-to-wall with talent and fresh ideas. Gillan's primary outlet for all of the music swirling around in his head is his original quartet, Lucas Gillan's Many Blessings.