Ben Sidran

As a pianist, vocalist, composer, record producer, writer, and broadcaster, Ben Sidran delivers literate performances shaped by jazz sensibilities and an easygoing, conversational manner. Rooted in the Mose Allison tradition of narrative-driven keyboard work, he progressed from sideman duties with Steve Miller to a career as a headliner and an acclaimed presence on radio and television. In the process he has helmed projects for artists including Mose Allison, Van Morrison, Michael Franks, and Rickie Lee Jones. He has also fronted programs on National Public Radio and VH1.

Chicago-born in 1943, Sidran spent his formative years in Racine, Wisconsin. During the early 1960s he performed alongside Steve Miller and Boz Scaggs in the Ardells while attending the University of Wisconsin. Once Miller relocated to San Francisco and obtained a recording deal, he recruited his former bandmate to replace departing keyboardist Jim Peterman in the Steve Miller Band. Sidran supplied both instrumental and songwriting contributions to several Miller releases, beginning with the 1969 album Brave New World, on which he co-wrote the signature track “Space Cowboy” plus three additional numbers. He further supplied “Steve Miller’s Midnight Tango” for Number 5 and joined Miller on additional material over subsequent years, also serving as producer for the 1972 album Recall the Beginning…A Journey from Eden.

Sidran earned a doctorate in philosophy and musicology with a dissertation examining African-American culture and music in the United States; that work appeared in print in 1971 under the title Black Talk and drew favorable notice. From 1972 onward he issued his own recordings in a relaxed, lightly swinging idiom reminiscent of Allison, among them Free in America in 1976, The Doctor Is In in 1977, and A Little Kiss in the Night in 1978. While his initial efforts centered on acoustic instrumentation and tributes to musical influences, later outings incorporated electronic textures and synthesizers, a direction evident on 1985’s On the Cool Side and 1988’s Too Hot to Touch.

Sidran and Miller have sustained their long-standing friendship, appearing on each other’s sessions and stages at intervals. In 1988 Sidran co-produced Miller’s collection of jazz standards Born 2B Blue, applying the same understated, cool arrangements characteristic of his own work. During the same decade he broadened his visibility by hosting National Public Radio’s Jazz Alive series, an effort that earned him a Peabody Award.

Throughout the 1990s Sidran issued several albums on his Go Jazz imprint, including Life’s a Lesson in 1994, Mr. P’s Shuffle in 1996, and The Concert for García Lorca in 1999. He also hosted the Ace Award-winning VH1 program New Visions and joined Van Morrison and Georgie Fame on the Mose Allison tribute Tell Me Something: The Songs of Mose Allison. Later he established the Nardis label with his son, releasing Nick’s Bump in 2004, Live à Fip in 2006, Dylan Different in 2009, and Don’t Cry for No Hipster in 2013. Sidran returned in 2017 with Picture Him Happy, a thematically philosophical album centered on the Sisyphus myth and featuring guitarist Will Bernard, bassist Will Lee, saxophonist John Ellis, and additional musicians.