131: Ben Sidran

Musician, singer, writer, producer, philosopher... Ben Sidran is a hard person to define. He belongs in multiple categories, or none at all. He says that his main focus throughout a career that began 50 years ago has been to document what he saw, felt, and heard, by way of various “idioms” (including performances, interviews, essays, recordings, etc.). That’s why he sees himself primarily as a journalist. Or at least, he sees what he does as a form of journalism. 

I’ve been engaged in a series of conversations - one long conversation really - with Ben Sidran since before I could really talk. We often pick up where we left off days, weeks or even years earlier, on any number of topics. So to conduct a formal interview with him is almost impossible for me. There’s simply too much history between us, because I know him so well, because we’ve been over it a hundred times before, because he’s my dad. 

We’re more comfortable co-hosting, discussing, debating, having more open ended conversations. In fact, he has even co-hosted some episodes of this podcast with me. (Welcome To Copenhagen, Newport Jazz, The Election, What It Felt Like In Paris, and Remembering Tommy LiPuma). And we’ve worked together on musical projects since I was a boy. I’m proud to have produced his most recent records, toured and performed with him for over 20 years. We always just called it jamming. “Let’s jam,” we’d say.

On the occasion of his 76th birthday I decided to try for a more classic kind of long form interview. I wanted to know, how does it feel to be 76? Does it live up to his expectations? How has the world changed for him? How has he changed in the world? Of course, the conversation takes plenty of turns and twists, but we somehow managed to stay on task and the episode is a lot of fun. 

This performance video of Ben Sidran was captured by the great Ira Schneider in November, 2013 at the Sunset club in Paris. The band features Ben Sidran on piano and vocals, Billy Peterson on bass, Bob Rockwell on saxophone, and Leo Sidran on drums.

Recorded live at the Cotton Club in Tokyo, May 22, 2009.

Video the song and new album "Don't Cry For No Hipster" Video recorded in Paris by Mathieu Wilson in november 2012

from 1986's "On the Live Side"

Uploaded by Davdave Spray on 2015-10-18.

Uploaded by Leo Sidran on 2014-09-27.

Filmed on stage in Madison Wisconsin's Union Theater on May 2, 1997, this concert would become Sidran's "Live At The Celebrity Lounge" album. In this raw footage, shot by Peter Gilbert, Sidran is joined by Phil Woods and Richard Davis on "Old Folks".

Recorded live on the "International D.O.C. Club" variety program in 1989, this captures the late 90's Ben Sidran band in full swing for Sidran's arrangement of "Sunny Side Of The Street". Featuring an introduction from the D.O.C.

Here he talks about falling in love with bebop as a young boy, counter culture in the 1960s, jazz as a form of journalism, how to get paid like a musician, his proudest moments, writing a misunderstood rock and roll anthem, getting to Carnegie hall, facing fears, and what he learned from his heroes (including Phil Woods, Art Blakey, and Mose Allison).

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With Ben Sidran, Madrid, 2017

As a special birthday surprise gift to him, I wrote this song and published the video this week as well. It's a song about continuity, about memory, about desire, about family. I think it’s the most personal song I have ever written.

Leo Sidran / Pop available here: https://idol.lnk.to/Pop Liner notes : Pop is a song about my father and his father, my grandfather who I never had a chance to meet. "Pop" was the name they called my grandfather at home; his real name was Louis.

Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, please leave a review on iTunes and consider supporting the podcast on Patreon! And now you can also listen to the podcast on Spotify!