Ben Hirsh Sidran (born August 14, 1943)[1] is an American jazz and rock keyboardist, producer, label owner, and music writer. Early in his career he was a member of the Steve Miller Band and is the father of Grammy-nominated musician, composer and performer Leo Sidran.[2][3]
Sidran returned to Madison, Wisconsin, 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-winning Jazz Alive series) and TV programs for VH1 (where his New Visions series in the early 1990s won the Ace Award).[5] 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;[1] the memoir A Life in the Music, published in 2003 and detailing his musical career;[6]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, 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 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)
