Pianist/singer/songwriter/author: Ben Sidran is all of these things and more. He’s played with or produced artists as diverse as Mose Allison, Diana Ross, Boz Scaggs, Jon Hendricks and Richie Cole and for years hosted the Peabody Award winning NPR series, Jazz Alive.
Ben holds a PhD in American Studies but in his own words, has studiously avoided the academic life, preferring instead to spend his time performing, producing and writing. We talk about Ben’s long career and his book, There Was A Fire: Jews, Music and the American Dream, a fascinating study of the enormous Jewish contribution to popular music and how and why the music developed. There was so much to discuss, I made this a two-part show!
A bit of trivia: Ben was the first person to interview me on NPR early in my career, so this was a wonderful reunion.