Pianist Monty Alexander on Miles Davis, Sinatra, the music of Jamaica, his recovery from pancreatic cancer, his new album A Jamarican in Paris, and the remarkable power of positivity.
Read More
From singing jingles as a child to writing some of the biggest pop hits of the 1980s, Richard Marx reflects on his musical upbringing, his songwriting career and his new album, After Hours.
Read More
Harry Connick, Jr. on memory and loss, growing up as a musical prodigy in New Orleans, his formative relationships with Ellis Marsalis and James Booker, the “dream state” of his remarkable early success, and Babe: Elaboratio — A Tribute to My Mother, an ambitious orchestral work and book devoted to his mother, Anita Livingston, who died when he was 13.
Read More
Grammy-winning singer, pianist and songwriter Nicole Zuraitis on The Devil I Knew, the boundaries of jazz, the long game of an independent career, and what it means to finally bake your own cake.
Read More
Pianist Sullivan Fortner on growing up in New Orleans, nearly choosing medicine over music, and the teachers and mentors who shaped him, from Barry Harris and Fred Hersch to his years playing with Roy Hargrove; his musical and personal partnership with Cécile McLorin Salvant, his fascination with sound and experimentation, and the making of Solo Game and Leave That In There.
Read More
Singer, composer and producer Sofia Rei talks with Leo Sidran about “Folk and Futurism,” rediscovering tradition from a distance, and how her collaborators and students continue to influence the music she makes.
Read More
Ashley Kahn talks about his new book Days of Miracle and Wonder which explores Paul Simon’s unconventional creative process and the complicated cultural and political questions that surrounded the making of Graceland.
Read More
On his 83rd birthday, Ben Sidran revisits a 1974 DownBeat profile (when he was 30) and considers what has changed, and what hasn’t, over more than half a century of music and life.
Read More
Ben Wikler, author of This Is the Plan, on humor, organizing, civic life, and the Wisconsin values that shaped his approach to democracy. A thoughtful discussion of community, political communication, and why, as Wikler says, "democracy is exhausting until you discover solidarity."
Read More
A conversation with Ben Sidran, from Greece on America's 250th birthday, about jazz, democracy, identity, and what remains when the scaffolding begins to shake.
Read More
Before The Irish Goodbye became one of the most acclaimed debut novels of 2025, Heather Aimee O'Neill spent years quietly writing it while building a career helping other writers tell their stories. Here she discusses the vulnerability of ambition, the challenge of living an authentic life, and the strange transition from observer to protagonist.
Read More
Saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin on mentorship, perseverance, and the making of her new album, We Dream.
Read More
To mark what would have been his 100th birthday today, I’m revisiting a rare 1986 conversation between Miles and my dad, Ben Sidran, recorded on the terrace of Miles’ Malibu home.
Read More
Mexican icon Julieta Venegas on how growing up in Tijuana - a border city suspended between Mexico and the United States - gave her an instinct for living “in-between,” both musically and personally.
Here she reflects on what it means to be norteña, and the long journey that led her out of Tijuana and ultimately back home. This month, Venegas releases both a new album, Norteña, and a memoir, Norteña: Memorias del comienzo. Together, they form what she describes as “the biggest puzzle I’ve put together in my whole career.”
Read More
Dida Pelled on her journey from Tel Aviv to New York, where she evolved from a jazz guitarist into a multifaceted artist - singer, songwriter, bandleader, and radio host. She discusses her latest album I Wish You Would, her approach to tradition, identity, finding a personal voice across genres, discovering the truth about her sexuality, her singing, and the six strings she loves so much.
Read More
Singer, songwriter, and founder of Song For You, Emily Cavanagh on music, service, resilience, and finding purpose in uncertain times. In the early days of the pandemic, Emily began calling hospitals with one simple question: “Does anyone need a song?”
Read More
At The Tell, Michael Leviton curates a monthly night of unscripted storytelling where the audience never knows what’s coming. The result is an intimate, unpredictable experience that speaks to the enduring power of stories—and the people who tell them.
Read More
A conversation with Janis Siegel leads to a deeper reflection on speech, fear, and the subtle ways freedom can erode. Through the lens of jazz, memory, and history: what happens when people begin to hesitate—and why speaking still matters.
Read More
Part personal story, part philosophical inquiry, and part behind-the-scenes look at how creative work actually gets made, chronicling the process of preparing a gig with Ben Sidran. Drawing on conversations with musicians like Gil Goldstein, Howard Levy, and Jacob Collier.
Read More
Phoebe Katis on success and arrival, the value of side hustles, pop music as a delivery system for truth, how to build a creative life without asking your art to carry everything.and what it means to keep “coming of age” well into adulthood.
Read More