Articles

The 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 ...

The 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 ...

Ben 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 ...

Ben 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). ...

Ben 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 ...

Ben 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 ...

Ben Sidran: Talking Jazz - An Oral History

By Mark Corroto

Ben Sidran Talking Jazz - An Oral History Self Published 2006

In jazz, there are only six degrees of separation between Louis Armstrong and Ornette Coleman, or beween any other pair of musicians you care to name. Perhaps a six-degrees/small-world theory which suggests a jazz critic from Ohio can find a connection with a fisherman from Fiji by way of just six steps is little far fetched, but six step connections between jazz players ...