Articles by Leo Sidran
The Magic of Stella Cole
by Leo Sidran
Stella Cole didn't set out to become the face of a jazz revival. Growing up in Springfield, Illinois, she fell in love with The Wizard of Oz and movie musicals. By the time she reached college at Northwestern, she nearly abandoned singing altogether--discouraged by a culture that told her the “old" songs weren't marketable. Then the pandemic hit. Locked down at home, she turned back to the comfort movies and music of her childhood, and began posting short ...
Continue ReadingBen Sidran at 82: Still auditioning for the role of myself
by Leo Sidran
Every year on his birthday, my dad Ben Sidran and I sit down for a conversation. It started when he turned 76, and we've done it ever since--capturing an ongoing record of where his head and heart are at that particular moment. Over the years we've talked about music, memory, politics, travel, the craft of performing, and the art of living. These annual conversations have become a kind of time-lapse portrait: the same two people returning to the ...
Continue ReadingTeach A Man To Phish
by Leo Sidran
I won't bury the lede. Last week I saw Phish in concert at Forest Hills Stadium on two consecutive nights. It was a long time coming for me. Loyal listeners of my The Third Story podcast have noticed a quiet apprehension about the Phish phenomenon--or more broadly, the jam band scene--threaded through past conversations. Some friends of the podcast have even sent me playlists and videos to gently nudge me toward listening to Phish. Conversations with Billy Martin ...
Continue ReadingMoses Patrou on songwriting, survival, and his new album Confession of a Fool
by Leo Sidran
New York-based multi-instrumentalist Moses Patrou has quietly carved out a singular career over the last two decades--as a drummer, percussionist, singer, songwriter, organist, and sideman to many (including Amy Helm, Ben Sidran and Will Bernard). With the release of his new album Confession of a Fool, Patrou steps into the spotlight with what feels like a definitive personal statement--one shaped as much by life experience as by musical instinct. While his 2007 debut, Introducing Moses Patrou (which I ...
Continue ReadingJoe Henry's Code of the Road
by Leo Sidran
For Joe Henry, truth in songwriting doesn't come from confession or fact. It comes from presence, from listening, from surrender, from giving shape to the ineffable. As he puts it: “Total presence--that is the code of my road." Henry's road has taken him across both the literal and metaphorical map of American music. Born in North Carolina, raised in Georgia and Ohio, and coming of age in Michigan, he grew up suspended between North and South, white and ...
Continue ReadingSing like nobody's streaming: Aron's Vintage Pop
by Leo Sidran
Aron! born Aron Stornaiuolo, grew up in North Carolina. He began his musical life playing guitar, eventually discovering jazz and the American songbook through an 80 year old teacher he met at a music store. He studied classical guitar at the North Carolina School of the Arts and went on to major in jazz guitar and film scoring at the University of Miami. Along the way, he played indie rock, fell in love with Nat King Cole, and even performed ...
Continue ReadingTerri Lyne Carrington: Only An Open Hand Receives
by Leo Sidran
Terri Lyne Carrington started playing drums as a child in Boston. By the time she was 10, she was gigging with Clark Terry. At 11, she had a drum endorsement.By 20, she was already building a remarkable career. And by 30, she had worked with Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter--two of the most visionary artists of their generation.Today she is a Grammy Award-winning drummer, composer, producer, educator, and activist whose trailblazing career spans over four decades. ...
Continue ReadingArturo O'Farrill: It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Sting!
by Leo Sidran
Arturo O'Farrill was, by his own admission, a “long-haired, stoned-out freaky kid" of 19, playing piano in a small bar in upstate New York when he caught the ear of pianist and composer Carla Bley. She took a chance on him and invited him to join her band--a pivotal moment for the young musician who, at the time, was actively distancing himself from the legacy of his father, the Cuban-born composer and arranger Chico O'Farrill, a central figure in Afro-Cuban ...
Continue ReadingMax Pollak: Tapped Into Rhythm
by Leo Sidran
Max Pollak was five years old, growing up in suburban Vienna, when he saw Fred Astaire dancing on television. He didn't understand the history. He didn't know the language. But he knew he had to do that. The rhythm, the movement, the magic of it--it spoke to him. And it sent him on a lifelong journey that would eventually lead him from Austria to Harlem, to Havana, and back again. Before he ever put on a pair of ...
Continue ReadingThe Vision of Raul Midón
by Leo Sidran
Raul Midón is a man who sees with sound. Blind since infancy, he has made a life--and a formidable body of work--guided by his ears, his intuition, and his insistence on carving his own path. To speak with Raul is to be reminded that perception is far more than a function of the eyes. It's a matter of attention, of attunement, of willingness to feel and listen. And for Raul, music has always been the most natural language ...
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