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.
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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.
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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.
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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."
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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.
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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.
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Saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin on mentorship, perseverance, and the making of her new album, We Dream.
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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.
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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.”
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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.
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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?”
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Singer, songwriter, producer Keren Ann on creativity, discipline, and what it really takes to make art over a lifetime. She talks about growing up between languages and cultures, about solitude, songwriting, and the moment when motivation stops working and discipline takes over.
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Dan Pashman, creator of The Sporkful podcast, on building a creative career from the ground up after years of radio layoffs and false starts, creative obsession, podcasting as a business, food as culture, and what Pashman sees as a key to his success: “Never underestimate the power of desperation.”
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Singer Kurt Elling returns ten years later to talk about gratitude, courage, Broadway’s Hadestown, and what it means to be in service of the music. A deep conversation about jazz, vocation, and why the artist’s job is not to perform but to manifest.
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Café Central, one of Madrid’s most important jazz venues, is facing closure after more than forty years at the heart of the city’s cultural life. I look back at nearly three decades I spent playing that room with my father, Ben Sidran — and what it means when a place that shaped your life prepares to close its doors. Music, memory, and the fragile ecosystems that keep culture alive.
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Guitarist and bassist Phil Upchurch was a musician’s musician who played on more than a thousand recordings. He passed away on November 23. My dad, Ben Sidran, was his friend and collaborator for over 50 years. In this episode, we remember Phil’s life and legacy: the sessions, the stories, the generosity, and the unmistakable sound that made him a foundational figure in American music. A tribute to a true original.
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