The Third Story podcast features 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: Kassa Overall
Guitarist Cory Wong on coming up in Minneapolis, playing with Vulfpeck, disrupting smooth jazz, commanding the grid, letting “rhythm take the lead”, the YouTube effect, the power of a good story, and Thai massage.
Saxophonist Jacques Schwarz-Bart on his creative journey through multicultural identity, authenticity, and how “the artist is first and foremost someone who has the guts to be himself”.
Pianist Aaron Parks on composition (“I love perfect asymmetry”), mathematics, thinking about touch, and no longer being the youngest person in the room.
Kassa Overall on the intersection of jazz and hip-hop, the importance of getting “comfortable with being bored so you can get better at your instrument”, the relationship between great drumming and the sounds of nature, how growing up far away from the “scene” gave him a strong sense of personal identity, and what it takes to be a “cat who is going for it”.