On Friday, Nov. 5, the third season of the “Jazz at Bucks” concert series will get underway with a performance by the Tom Lawton Quintet.

Lawton, a teacher at Bucks and at Temple University, often performs in the Philadelphia and New York City areas.

His new CD, “Retrospective/Debut” has earned enthusiastic reviews from music critics and Jazz websites like JazzReview.com.

“Lawton is a really amazing pianist who tends to be on the cutting edge and tends to push things forward,” said Tony Rogers, journalism professor . “We thought we would give the students a chance to see and appreciate live jazz. There are some other venues in the area, bars in Doylestown and New Hope, but nothing I know of that has jazz on a regular basis. It’s difficult, because jazz requires you to find an audience, but it’s a very eclectic kind of music.”

The Jazz concerts began in the fall of 2002 at the suggestion of Rogers.

“I love Jazz, and jazz is really best seen live,” said Rogers. “I pitched the idea of doing concerts to Jonathan Lee, of the department of theater and programming at Bucks and he agreed. He does all the funding, and without him the series would never have happened.”

Rogers and Lee hold three concerts a year, including a holiday show featuring a local act, the Eric Mendel Quartet.

The quartet will be performing original songs as well as pieces from Vince Guaraldi’s A Charlie Brown Christmas.

This year’s holiday concert at Bucks is scheduled for November 27.

“Last year, the holiday show was packed,” Rogers said. “We decided it did so well, we were going to bring it back.”

Past shows have included area jazz acts such as Ben Schachter and His Trio of Many, the Michael Hoffman Quartet, the Mike Kennedy Quartet, and the Eric Mendel Quartet, who will be returning for the holiday concert.

“Our concerts mostly feature bands from the Philadelphia area,” says Rogers. “There is a wealth of talent, so acts are not difficult to find.”

With notable musicians like the Terrel Stafford Group, who will be performing in April, Rogers expects the concert series to gain popularity. According to him, Stafford’s style is more traditional.

“His music harks back to early jazz, he said of Stafford. “He is very rooted in blues and gospel. Of all the groups we have brought in, he’s the biggest.”

The Jazz concert tickets are sold for $17 for adults and $13 for students, senior citizens, and military personnel.

They can be purchased online at http://www.bucks.edu/jazz, at the Student Life Information Center in Rollins, or they can be purchased at the door.