Jazz drummer, Hannibal native returns Sunday for first performance in Hannibal since 2018

HANNIBAL, Mo. — Jazz drummer/artist/composer/bandleader/educator Matt Kane will travel from New Jersey back to his hometown of Hannibal to perform at 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 1, at the Hannibal Arts Council, 105 S. Main. 

Kane last performed in Hannibal in 2018 to a sold-out audience. In addition to Kane on drums will be Bob Bowman on bass and Brant Jester on piano.  

The concert will be a local album release party for Kane’s fifth album “Song Poems,” featuring all original compositions that is produced by Kane. The songs are appealing to bona fide jazz fans and universal music lovers. The cover of his latest CD is a collaboration with another Hannibal native, Debra Smith, a successful KC/NYC artist who resides in Kansas City.  Smith and Kane went to Hannibal High School and graduated together.

Kane graduated in 1989. After graduation on a Friday, he hightailed it to Kansas City by Monday with a scholarship to the UMKC Conservatory of Music. As a freshman, he had a gig five nights a week with Blues vocalist Lori Tucker. He cut his teeth in the Kansas City jazz scene before heading to New York City where his tenacity led him critical acclaim with his album of all original songs, “The Other Side of the Story,” being featured on WBGO’s “Radar” series and into the top 20 albums on jazz radio in 2018. Learn more at www.mattkanemusic.com.

Tickets are $25 for the general public and $20 for HAC members. Students are free. Purchase tickets and RSVP (students) online at hannibalartscouncil.eventbrite.com, call 573-221-6545 or stop by 105 S. Main from noon-5 p.m. Monday-Friday.

The concert is sponsored by the Hannibal Arts Council, Missouri Arts Council and individual sponsors Robert M. Clayton II, Michael Gaines, Ann Nagy, Lent Johnson, Sandra Ahlum and Branson Wood.

For more information on this and other Hannibal Arts Council programs, visit hannibalarts.com, call 573-221-6545 or stop by 105 S. Main.