Ben Sidran
Encyclopedia
Ben Sidran is an American
jazz
and rock
pianist
, organist
, vocalist and writer
born in Chicago
, noted for his work with the early Steve Miller Band
.
, and attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison
in 1961, where he became a member of The Ardells
along with Steve Miller and Boz Scaggs
. When Miller and Scaggs left Wisconsin for the West Coast and stardom, Sidran stayed behind to earn a degree in English literature. After graduating in 1966, Sidran enrolled in the University of Sussex
, England
, to pursue a PhD degree in American Studies
.
Sidran rejoined Miller in an English recording studio the next year, playing on the album "Children of the Future." While in England, he was a session musician for artists that included Eric Clapton
, The Rolling Stones
, Peter Frampton
and Charlie Watts
. After a brief stint in Los Angeles, where he began his career as a recording artist (teamed with Scaggs and drummer Jim Keltner
) and record producer, Sidran returned to Madison in 1971 and has kept the university town as a home-base ever since, playing often with such Madison-based talents as drummer Clyde Stubblefield
and keyboardist-composer Leo Sidran
, Sidran's son. Over the years, while continuing to travel, perform and produce, he taught courses at the University (on the business of music) and, beginning in 1981, hosted a variety of jazz programs for NPR, (including the Peabody Award Winning "Jazz Alive" series) and for VH1 television (where his "New Visions" series in the early 90s won the Ace Award.)
As a musician and a producer he has collaborated with artists that include Mose Allison
, Van Morrison
, Diana Ross
, and Rickie Lee Jones
. His written works include the book "Black Talk," (on the sociology of black music in America), the memoir "A Life in the Music," and "Talking Jazz," a collection of his historic interviews with jazz musicians.
Sidran has been referred to by the Chicago Sun Times as a "Renaissance man cast adrift in a modern world," and by the Times of London as "The first existential jazz rapper," in reference to his preferred mix of humorous, erudite commentary while playing grooves and bebop. He continues to lecture at Universities, most recently on the subject of "Jews, Music and the American Dream."
Talking Jazz includes an eighty page booklet with essays from writers, critics and musicians, classic photos from Lee Tanner, and 24 compact discs featuring conversations with 60 jazz greats, recorded during a five year period for Sidran’s award winning NPR
program "Sidran On Record". The 24 CDs orchestrated by Sidran document the speaking voice of jazz musicians, including Miles Davis
, Art Blakey
, and others.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
pianist
Jazz piano
Jazz piano is a collective term for the techniques pianists use when playing jazz. The piano has been an integral part of the jazz idiom since its inception, in both solo and ensemble settings. Its role is multifaceted due largely to the instrument's combined melodic and harmonic capabilities...
, organist
Organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
, vocalist and writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
born in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, noted for his work with the early Steve Miller Band
Steve Miller Band
The Steve Miller Band is an American rock band formed in 1967 in San Francisco, California. The band is managed by Steve Miller on guitar and lead vocals, and is known for a string of mid-1970s hit singles that are staples of the classic rock radio format.-History:In 1965, Steve Miller and...
.
Biography
Sidran was raised in Racine, WisconsinRacine, Wisconsin
Racine is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. According to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city had a population of 82,196...
, and attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
in 1961, where he became a member of The Ardells
The Ardells
-Steve Miller's Band:The Ardells was a band started by Steve Miller in 1961 when he attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison. In the fall of 1962, Steve lived in a rooming house on Frances St. in Madison and also pledged the Chi Psi fraternity on fraternity row near Langdon St...
along with Steve Miller and Boz Scaggs
Boz Scaggs
William Royce "Boz" Scaggs is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He gained fame in the 1970s with several Top 20 hit singles in the United States, along with the #2 album, Silk Degrees. Scaggs continues to write, record music and tour.-Early life and career:Scaggs was born in Canton,...
. When Miller and Scaggs left Wisconsin for the West Coast and stardom, Sidran stayed behind to earn a degree in English literature. After graduating in 1966, Sidran enrolled in the University of Sussex
University of Sussex
The University of Sussex is an English public research university situated next to the East Sussex village of Falmer, within the city of Brighton and Hove. The University received its Royal Charter in August 1961....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, to pursue a PhD degree in American Studies
American studies
American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinary field dealing with the study of the United States. It traditionally incorporates the study of history, literature, and critical theory, but also includes fields as diverse as law, art, the media, film, religious studies, urban...
.
Sidran rejoined Miller in an English recording studio the next year, playing on the album "Children of the Future." While in England, he was a session musician for artists that included Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
, The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
, Peter Frampton
Peter Frampton
Peter Kenneth Frampton is an English musician, singer, producer, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. He was previously associated with the bands Humble Pie and The Herd. Frampton's international breakthrough album was his live release, Frampton Comes Alive!. The album sold over 6 million copies...
and Charlie Watts
Charlie Watts
Charles Robert "Charlie" Watts is an English drummer, best known as a member of The Rolling Stones. He is also the leader of a jazz band, a record producer, commercial artist, and horse breeder.-Early life:...
. After a brief stint in Los Angeles, where he began his career as a recording artist (teamed with Scaggs and drummer Jim Keltner
Jim Keltner
James Lee "Jim" Keltner is an American drummer known primarily for his session work. He has contributed to the work of many well-known artists...
) and record producer, Sidran returned to Madison in 1971 and has kept the university town as a home-base ever since, playing often with such Madison-based talents as drummer Clyde Stubblefield
Clyde Stubblefield
Clyde Stubblefield is a drummer best known for his work with James Brown.Stubblefield's recordings with James Brown are considered to be some of the standard-bearers for funk drumming, including the singles "Cold Sweat", "There Was A Time", "I Got The Feelin'", "Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm...
and keyboardist-composer Leo Sidran
Leo Sidran
Leo Sidran is a musician, composer, performer, and producer whose credits include producing the Oscar-winning soundtrack for the movie The Motorcycle Diaries.Sidran began his career in music early...
, Sidran's son. Over the years, while continuing to travel, perform and produce, he taught courses at the University (on the business of music) and, beginning in 1981, hosted a variety of jazz programs for NPR, (including the Peabody Award Winning "Jazz Alive" series) and for VH1 television (where his "New Visions" series in the early 90s won the Ace Award.)
As a musician and a producer he has collaborated with artists that include Mose Allison
Mose Allison
Mose John Allison, Jr. is an American jazz blues pianist and singer.-Biography:...
, Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
, Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
, and Rickie Lee Jones
Rickie Lee Jones
Rickie Lee Jones is an American vocalist, musician, songwriter, and producer. Over the course of a three-decade career, Jones has recorded in various musical styles including rock, R&B, blues, pop, soul, and jazz standards.-Childhood:...
. His written works include the book "Black Talk," (on the sociology of black music in America), the memoir "A Life in the Music," and "Talking Jazz," a collection of his historic interviews with jazz musicians.
Sidran has been referred to by the Chicago Sun Times as a "Renaissance man cast adrift in a modern world," and by the Times of London as "The first existential jazz rapper," in reference to his preferred mix of humorous, erudite commentary while playing grooves and bebop. He continues to lecture at Universities, most recently on the subject of "Jews, Music and the American Dream."
Talking Jazz includes an eighty page booklet with essays from writers, critics and musicians, classic photos from Lee Tanner, and 24 compact discs featuring conversations with 60 jazz greats, recorded during a five year period for Sidran’s award winning NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
program "Sidran On Record". The 24 CDs orchestrated by Sidran document the speaking voice of jazz musicians, including Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
, Art Blakey
Art Blakey
Arthur "Art" Blakey , known later as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, was an American Grammy Award-winning jazz drummer and bandleader. He was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community....
, and others.
Discography
- 1971 - Feel Your Groove (CapitolCapitol RecordsCapitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
) - with Blue MitchellBlue MitchellRichard Allen Mitchell was an American jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, rock, and funk trumpeter, known for many albums recorded as leader and sideman for Riverside, Blue Note and then Mainstream Records.-Biography:... - 1972 - I Lead a Life Blue Thumb
- 1973 - Puttin' in Time on Planet Earth (Blue ThumbBlue Thumb RecordsBlue Thumb Records was an American record label founded in 1968 by Bob Krasnow, along with former A&M Records executives Tommy LiPuma and Don Graham. Krasnow had been in the record business for a number of years, working as a promotion man for King Records and also working for Buddah/Kama Sutra...
) - 1974 - Don't Let Go (Blue Thumb)
- 1976 - Free in America (AristaArista RecordsArista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
) - 1977 - The Doctor Is In (Arista)
- 1978 - A Little Kiss in the Night (Arista)
- 1979 - Live at Montreux (Arista)
- 1980 - The Cat and the Hat (Horizon RecordsHorizon RecordsHorizon Records was started as a folk and blues record label by Dave Hubert in 1960.It was originally distributed by World Pacific Records. When Vee-Jay Records acquired World Pacific in 1963, it also took over the distribution of Horizon....
) - 1981 - Get To The Point (Polystar)
- 1982 - Old Songs for the New Depression (IslandIsland RecordsIsland Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
) - 1983 - Bop City (Island / Go Jazz)
- 1984 - Live - with Richard DavisRichard DavisRichard Davis is an American jazz bassist who has been a professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison since 1977. Originally from Chicago, he first became known in that city before establishing himself in New York City for twenty-three years. He teaches bass, jazz history, and...
- 1985 - On the Cool Side (Windham HillWindham Hill RecordsWindham Hill Records is a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment specializing in Acoustic, New Age and Folk music. Originally founded in 1976 as an Independent record label by guitarist and carpenter William Ackerman and his then-wife Anne Robinson, Windham Hill was a successful and well-respected...
) - 1986 - Have You Met...Barcelona? (Orange Blue)
- 1987 - On the Live Side (Windham Hill)
- 1988 - Too Hot to Touch (Windham Hill)
- 1990 - Cool Paradise (Go Jazz)
- 1994 - Life's a Lesson (Go Jazz)
- 1996 - Mr. P's Shuffle (Go Jazz)
- 1997 - Go Jazz All-Stars (Go Jazz)
- 1998 - Live at Celebrity Lounge (Go Jazz)
- 2000 - Concert For Garcia Lorca (Go Jazz)
- 2002 - Walk Pretty, The Music Of Alec Wilder (Go Jazz)
- 2004 - Nick's Bump (Nardis Music)
- 2005 - Bumpin' At The Sunside (Nardis Music)
- 2006 - Live à fip (Bonsai Music)
- 2008 - Cien Noches (Nardis Music)
- 2009 - Dylan Different (Nardis Music)