The Third Story is a weekly podcast featuring long-form interviews with creative people of all types, hosted by me, Leo Sidran.
Their stories of discovery, loss, ambition, identity, improvisation, risk, and reward are deeply moving and compelling for all of us as we embark on our own creative journeys.
Most recent episode: Nate Chinen
Sociologist and musician Howard S. Becker on deviance, studying piano with Lennie Tristano, how in his day live music was a function of geography, strong union leadership, and cheap beer. Plus why jazz is like philosophy (the only money is teaching).
Guitarist Lage Lund on who influenced him, where he’s looking when he plays, when he discovered that guitar doesn’t suck, how musicians communicate, what happened to swing, and why jazz musicians drink natural wine.
Ben Wikler (Washington director of MoveOn.Org), Anat Shenker-Osorio (writer, researcher and communications specialist) and Dan Kaufman (musician and journalist) on the impact of the Madison-state-of-mind on their lives, careers and general point of view. Plus what it means to be in the business of "messaging" today.
Jazz writer and critic Nate Chinen on his new book Playing Changes, jazz criticism, displaced backbeats, the importance of live music, and the trouble with trying to define what music should and shouldn’t be. This is a conversation I’ve waited a long time to have and it was absolutely worth the wait.