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Ben Sidran: Who's The Old Guy Now
by Leo Sidran
For the second year in a row, I talk to my dad, musician/producer/journalist/philosopher Ben Sidran in honor of his birthday. This time he's turning 77, and we consider his recent projects, including the books “The Ballad of Tommy LiPuma" and “There Was a Fire: Jews, Music and the American Dream," and his latest single “Look Who's the Old Guy Now." Of course, these are atypical times, and so this is an atypical episode, in which we discuss being ...
read moreThe Ballad of Tommy LiPuma
by Doug Collette
The Ballad of Tommy LiPuma Ben Sidran 286 pages ISBN: #978-0578556604 Nardis Books 2020 Keyboardist, vocalist, composer and author, plus long-time compatriot of none other than 'The Space Cowboy' himself, Steve Miller, Ben Sidran is the epitome of well-crafted spontaneity. As was, in his own inimitable fashion, musician/producer/entrepreneur Tommy LiPuma. Little wonder the former's book devoted to the latter reads like eavesdropping on a scintillating conversation between two erudite gentlemen in a ...
read moreThe Ben Sidran Shuffle
by Ludovico Granvassu
A discography that spans five-decades is hard to squeeze in a little more than an hour. To show the many stylistic sides of pianist, singer and composer (but also producer, musicologist, journalist, scholar and all-around jazz statesman) Ben Sidran, we have put together this playlist which shuffles back and forth between his early and late albums. If you're not yet familiar with his work do yourself a favor, press play on the player without hesitation, and soon you'll be on ...
read moreBen Sidran at Dazzle
by Geoff Anderson
Ben Sidran Dazzle Denver, CO October 23, 2019 Ben Sidran is a quadruple threat. Many great musicians claim the trifecta of vocals, instrumental chops and songwriting. Sidran has all those. On top of all that, Sidran adds philosophizing. Or maybe it's storytelling. Or maybe both of those things. Wednesday night, Sidran worked all four (or five) of his talents into a single show. He's currently touring with his long-time bassist Billy Peterson and ...
read moreBen Sidran on 50 years in jazz
by Leo Sidran
In this podcast, the multifaceted Ben Sidran (my dad) on his 76th birthday, talks about on 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 Mose Allison, Gil Evans, Art Blakey, Horace Silver, Johnny Griffin, and Phil Woods). ...
read moreBen Sidran: Renaissance Man
by C. Michael Bailey
The only appropriate person to tell the story of Ben Sidran is Ben Sidran. And, that is exactly what he did in his “autobiography/memoir" Ben Sidran: A Life in Music. The book is also the perfect companion to Ben There, Done That: Ben Sidran Live Around the World (1975-2015), a 3-CD retrospective of Sidran performing in a variety of formats that only a Renaissance Man like himself could achieve. Ben Sidran: A Life in Music Ben ...
read moreBen Sidran: The First Existential Jazz Rapper
by Joan Gannij
Ben Sidran is an old school hipster in the authentic sense of the word. He's a no frills, musician's musician who's got the heart, got the chops. He's been there, done that, and ready to do more. Sidran has never been interested in following trends or squeezing into categories and is not about to start now. “In jazz, they want you to be yourself, but they only want you to be yourself in their category, and if you're not, it ...
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