Results for "Leo Sidran"

Leo Sidran

I'm a multi instrumentalist musician, producer, arranger, composer, recording artist, and podcast host.

I was born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin, which is sometimes referred to as 70 square miles surrounded by reality. My father, Ben Sidran, another multifaceted music man, provided my early musical sustenance. My mother, a weaver and travel agent, provided texture and safe passage.

I got my start writing songs professionally as a teenager when the Steve Miller Band recorded four of my songs for their 1993 Wide River album. My father was working with Miller at the time, which is how I made the connection, but even then, at the ripe old age of 15, I was interested in production. So, Steve invited me to play keyboards, guitars and drums on the record.

Jim Hall's Concierto de Aranjuez, New Releases and more

by Adam Sieff
November 8, 2026

This week's Jazz on the Beach features new releases, live tracks and some rewarding catalogue discoveries. There are interesting father-and-son connections, with the McCravens (drummers Stephen and Makaya) and the Sidrans (Ben and Leo). New music comes from Sarah Tandy, The Filthy Six and Jakob Bro's collaboration with Larry Grenadier and Jorge Rossy featuring the great ...

Gregory Porter Returns To The Alley

by Leo Sidran
November 4, 2026

Hearing Gregory Porter sing, it's hard to imagine there was ever a time when he considered doing anything else.He's known for his rich, unmistakable baritone, a voice that draws equally from jazz, gospel, blues, and soul. Today he's a celebrated, Grammy-winning artist who plays for audiences of thousands. He plays four nights in a ...

Monty Alexander: A Student of Joy

by Leo Sidran
October 28, 2026

For more than seven decades, pianist Monty Alexander has occupied a singular place in jazz, combining the swing and improvisational language of American jazz with the rhythms and musical traditions of his native Jamaica.Here Alexander traces his journey from Kingston recording sessions with ska pioneers to the New York jazz scene, where an unlikely ...

Richard Marx After Hours

by Leo Sidran
October 24, 2026

For a period of time in the late 1980s, it was nearly impossible to turn on pop radio without hearing a song by Richard Marx. One of the most commercially successful singer-songwriters of his generation, Marx's music helped define the sound of late-'80s pop and rock ballads. Songs like “Right Here Waiting" and, later, ...

The Iconic Harry Connick, Jr.

by Leo Sidran
October 6, 2026

From the time he showed up on the scene in his late teens, Harry Connick, Jr. seemed destined for an unusual career. His early Columbia recordings placed him alongside musicians like Ron Carter, Dr. John and Carmen McRae; the When Harry Met Sally... soundtrack made him a star at 22. In the decades since, he has ...

Nicole Zuraitis Baked Her Own Cake

by Leo Sidran
September 30, 2026

Nicole Zuraitis has spent much of her career being asked (and asking herself) variations of the same question: where do you fit? Is the music jazz? Is it pop? Is it cabaret?Her new album, The Devil I Knew, doesn't exactly settle the question. Instead, it makes the question seem increasingly beside the point.

Sullivan Fortner: The Music Tells You Where to Go

by Leo Sidran
September 16, 2026

It is hard to overstate the exuberance and awe expressed by other musicians when talking about Sullivan Fortner. At under 40 years old, he is one of a small handful of pianists who have moved the instrument and its potential forward. And by doing so, he's demonstrated that innovation can happen from within the tradition of ...

Folk and Futurism with Sofia Rei

by Leo Sidran
September 9, 2026

Argentine singer, composer and producer Sofía Rei talks about leaving Buenos Aires and rediscovering the music of home, moving beyond the boundaries of jazz, embracing electronics and production, and learning from collaborators and students. Her new album, Antónima (GroundUP), brings those threads together through what she calls “Folk and Futurism" a meeting place for tradition, technology ...

Ashley Kahn on the Miracles and Wonder of Paul Simon’s Graceland

by Leo Sidran
August 26, 2026

Forty years ago this month, Paul Simon released Graceland, an album that became one of the defining records of his career, and one of the most celebrated and debated albums of its era.The story famously begins with a cassette of South African township music that Simon couldn't stop listening to. He followed that sound ...