Ben Hirsh Sidran (born August 14, 1943) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and rock keyboardist, producer, label owner, and music writer. Early in his career he was a member of the

Steve Miller Band The Steve Miller Band is an American rock music, rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1966. The band is led by Steve Miller (musician), Steve Miller on guitar and lead vocals. The group had a string of mid- to late-1970s hit singles ...

and is the father of Grammy-nominated musician, composer and performer Leo Sidran.

Life and career

Sidran was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, United States. He was raised in Racine, Wisconsin, and attended the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

in 1961, where he became a member of

The Ardells Several bands have called themselves The Ardells. Steve Miller's band The Ardells was a band started by Steve Miller (musician), Steve Miller in 1961 when he attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison. In the fall of 1962, Steve lived in a roo ...

with Steve Miller and Boz Scaggs. When Miller and Scaggs left Wisconsin for the West Coast, Sidran stayed behind to earn a degree in English literature. After graduating in 1966, he enrolled at the

University of Sussex The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...

, England, to pursue a PhD. While in England, he was a session musician for

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

, Peter Frampton, and

Charlie Watts Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021) was an English musician who was the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021. Originally trained as a Graphic designer, graphic artist, Watts developed an interest i ...

. Sidran joined Steve Miller as keyboardist and songwriter on recording projects, appearing on the albums '' Brave New World'', '' Your Saving Grace'', '' Number 5'', and '' Recall the Beginning...A Journey from Eden''. He produced ''Recall the Beginning'' and co-wrote the hit song "Space Cowboy." In 1988, he produced Miller's jazz album ''Born 2B Blue''. He has also produced albums for Mose Allison,

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

Rickie Lee Jones Rickie Lee Jones (born November 8, 1954) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter. Over the course of a career that spans five decades and 15 studio albums, she has recorded in various musical styles including rock, R&B, pop, soul, an ...

, and

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown#Major divisions, Motown's most suc ...

. Sidran returned to

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

, in 1971 and has spent most of his life there. He taught courses at the university (on the business of music) and beginning in 1981 hosted jazz radio programs for NPR (including the

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

-winning ''Jazz Alive'' series) and TV programs for VH1 (where his ''New Visions'' series in the early 1990s won the Ace Award). While hosting that series, Sidran frequently expressed his desire to "demystify the world of jazz; jazz musicians are just like the rest of us, only more so." As a musician and a producer he has released over 35 solo recordings. His written works include the book ''Black Talk'' on the sociology of black music in America; the memoir ''A Life in the Music'', published in 2003 and detailing his musical career;''Talking Jazz'', a collection of his historic interviews with jazz musicians; ''There Was a Fire: Jews, Music and the American Dream'', a cultural history of the Jewish contribution to American popular music during the 20th century and a finalist for the 2012 National Jewish Book Award; and ''The Ballad of Tommy LiPuma'', a biography of the record producer Tommy LiPuma. His 24-CD box set ''Talking Jazz'' includes an 80-page booklet with essays from writers, critics and musicians, classic photos from Lee Tanner, and 24 compact discs featuring conversations with 60 jazz musicians, 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 Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

, Art Blakey, and others. Sidran has been referred to by the '' Chicago Sun Times'' as a "Renaissance man cast adrift in a modern world" and by ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' as "the first existential jazz rapper," in reference to his commentary while playing music.

Discography

As leader

* ''Feel Your Groove'' (Capitol, 1970) * ''I Lead a Life'' (Blue Thumb, 1971) * ''Puttin' in Time on Planet Earth'' (Blue Thumb, 1972) * '' Don't Let Go'' (Blue Thumb, 1974) * ''Free in America'' (Arista, 1975) * ''The Doctor Is in'' (Arista, 1977) * ''A Little Kiss in the Night'' (Arista, 1978) * ''Live at Montreux'' (Arista, 1978) * ''The Cat and the Hat'' (Horizon/A&M, 1979) * ''New Wave Bebop'' (Baybridge, 1981) * ''Old Songs for the New Depression'' (Antilles, 1982) * ''Bop City'' (Antilles, 1982) * ''Get to the Point'' (Baybridge, 1983) * '' On the Cool Side'' (Magenta/Windham Hill, 1985) * ''On the Live Side'' (Magenta/Windham Hill, 1986) * ''Too Hot to Touch'' (Windham Hill, 1988) * ''Have You Met... Barcelona?'' (Orange Blue, 1989) * '' Cool Paradise'' (Go Jazz, 1990) * ''Life's a Lesson'' (Go Jazz, 1993) * ''Mr. P's Shuffle'' (Go Jazz, 1995) * ''Live at the Celebrity Lounge'' (Go Jazz, 1997) * '' The Concert for García Lorca'' (Go Jazz, 1999) * ''Walk Pretty: The Songs of Alec Wilder'' (Go Jazz, 2002) * '' Nick's Bump'' (Nardis, 2003) * ''Bumpin' at the Sunside'' (Nardis, 2005) * ''Cien Noches'' (Nardis, 2008) * '' Dylan Different'' (Nardis, 2009) * '' Don't Cry For No Hipster'' (Nardis, 2012) * ''Blue Camus'' (Nardis, 2014) * ''Picture Him Happy'' (Nardis, 2017) * ''Swing State'' (Nardis, 2022) * ''Rainmaker'' (Nardis, 2024)

As sideman

With Steve Miller * ''Children of the Future'' (Capitol, 1968) * ''Brave New World'' (Capitol, 1969) * ''Your Saving Grace'' (Capitol, 1969) * ''Number 5'' (Capitol, 1970) * ''Recall the Beginning...A Journey from Eden'' (Capitol, 1972) * ''Born 2B Blue'' (Capitol, 1988) * ''Wide River'' (Polydor, 1993) With others * Gene Clark, ''White Light'' (A&M, 1971) * Clementine, ''Clementine & Ben Sidran'' (Sony, 2011) * Richie Cole, ''Popbop'' (Milestone, 1987) * Richie Cole, ''Signature'' (Milestone, 1988) * Jesse Davis, ''Jesse Davis'' (Atco, 1970) * Tim Davis, ''Take Me As I Am'' (Metromedia, 1972) * Jorge Drexler, ''Eco2'' (Gasa, 2005) * Jorge Drexler, ''Amar La Trama'' (WEA, 2010) *

Georgie Fame Georgie Fame (born Clive Powell; 26 June 1943) is an English R&B and jazz musician. Fame, who had a string of 1960s hits, is still performing, often working with contemporaries such as Alan Price, Van Morrison and Bill Wyman. Fame is the only B ...

, ''Cool Cat Blues'' (Go Jazz, 1991) * Georgie Fame, ''The Blues and Me'' (Go Jazz, 1992) * Jon Hendricks, ''Tell Me the Truth'' (Arista, 1975) * Joy and the Boy, ''Paradise'' (Go Jazz, 2001) * Marlango, ''Life in the Treehouse'' (Universal, 2010) *

Aya Matsuura is a former Japanese pop singer and actress, from Himeji, Hyogo, Japan. Career 2000–2009: Hello! Project Aya auditioned in 2000 for the fourth Morning Musume & Heike Michiyo Protegee Audition and was selected along with Sheki-Dol to become ...

, ''Click You Link Me'' (Zetima, 2010) * Sarah Jane Morris, ''Sarah Jane Morris'' (Jive, 1989) *

, ''Tell Me Something - The songs of Mose Allison'' (Verve, 1996) * Paul Pena, ''New Train'' (Hybrid, 2000) * Bob Rockwell, ''Bob's Ben Webster'' (Stunt, 2004) * Gustavo Santaolalla, ''The Motorcycle Diaries'' (Edge Music, 2004) * Boz Scaggs, ''Moments'' (Columbia, 1971) * Leo Sidran, ''L. Sid'' (Go Pop, 1999) * Phil Upchurch, ''Darkness, Darkness'' (Blue Thumb, 1972) * Phil Upchurch, ''Whatever Happened to the Blues'' (Go Jazz, 1992)

References

External links

AllaboutjazzEmbrace your inner hipster , Ben Sidran , TEDxMadison
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sidran, Ben 1943 births Living people 20th-century American Jews American jazz pianists American male jazz pianists American session musicians Musicians from Chicago Musicians from Madison, Wisconsin Musicians from Racine, Wisconsin Antilles Records artists Arista Records artists Capitol Records artists Atlantic Records artists Windham Hill Records artists Blue Thumb Records artists University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Steve Miller Band members 20th-century American pianists Jazz musicians from Illinois 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians VH1 people 21st-century American Jews