The Third Story with Leo Sidran

What did it feel like in Paris on the night of Friday, November 13th?   From my point of view, it started with a lot of positive energy. I walked into the Sunset jazz club in the Chatelet area, where I was performing with my dad’s quartet, and said hello to some friends who had come to see the show. It was a good crowd, a full house on a Friday night and people were out to have a good time.   We p...

Singer-songwriter Becca Stevens has been making music since she was a little girl, singing in her family band, the Tune Mammals. Since moving to New York city for college over a decade ago, she has been a fixture on the jazz and singer-songwriter scenes, working with her own band as well as with some of the most talented and exciting new jazz artists today, including Esperanza Spalding, Ambrose Ak...

For forty years, Creed Taylor was one of a small handful of jazz record producers and label managers who shaped and defined the sound of jazz recording. Through his work with the Bethlehem, ABC, Impulse!, Verve, and CTI labels, he produced classic albums for countless artists. He introduced us to “The Girl From Ipanema”, “Mister Magic” and showed us “The Blues and the Abstract Truth”. He produced...

Howard Levy has one of the most inquisitive musical minds of anyone around. He’s an accomplished piano player, and a musical fixture on the Chicago music scene, but the thing that he’s most known for is his astounding harmonica playing and innovative technique. Here he talks to Leo and Ben Sidran about his journey out of New York, to the city of wide shoulders and open spaces, and how living in Ch...

This week, Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show” begins, replacing David Letterman and starting a new tradition for late night television. Colbert chose young powerhouse pianist  Jon Batiste  to lead his band, and Batiste in turn selected Michael Thurber  to play bass in the band. I've talked with both Batiste and Thurber for this podcast in the past, discussing their early musical development and general...

The Triangle Trade route connected the old world to the new world, sending slaves from west Africa to the Americas, and goods from the Americas back to Europe and even to Africa. How did it profoundly influence the music and culture of each stop along the way? Bassist Matt Geraghty and Saxophonist Ze Luis have been traveling to port cities (New Orleans, San Juan, Havana) to find out. It's part of...

Ben Sidran and I spent three days at the Newport Jazz Festival, checking out the music, hanging with musicians and trying to find a lobster roll. During the course of the weekend, we connected with some wonderful jazz personalities, including Jon Batiste, Dr. John, Jason Lindner, Maria Schneider, Jose James, James Carter, Jamie Cullum, David Hazeltine, and Bob Dorough. Each of them helped us to pa...

George Wein opened his first jazz club, Storyville, in the early 1950s when he was a young man. He then created the Newport Jazz Festival in 1954. The festival became an icon among music festivals and influenced the way music was presented around the world.

Roam in and out of Copenhagen jazz clubs with me and my father, Ben Sidran. With microphones in hand, we interviewed all sorts of musicians, wondering aloud about the future of the music. A window into my world.

The viral content website Upworthy launched in 2012 with an emphasis on simple and transformational storytelling. It had an immediate impact online and quickly influenced many other sites in the way they shared stories. Peter Koechley explains their philosophy, why they focus on empathy, and how he came to co-found the influential site.

The conversation is a fascinating glimpse into both the golden age of recording and modern music production approaches, which also highlights how important relationships and trust are to building a career in music (or any industry).

Singer Sachal on connecting with an audience, integrating technology into organic music, and the importance of lyrics.

Actor, writer, Zen Buddhist Peter Coyote on the value of meditation ("it's like walking in fog - you get drenched!"), the search for the authentic self, and how to stay true to yourself in the midst of commercial pressures.

Guitarist Charlie Hunter is a true innovator who has collaborated with countless music legends including D'Angelo, John Mayer, Mos Def, Michael Franti, Ben Goldberg and Norah Jones.

Gabriel Stulman has opened six successful restaurants in NYCs West Village since 2008. Here he talks about creating timeless places, how to balance instinct with recovery, and why it's important to allow for failure in any endeavor.

Even if you don't know the name Greg Holden, chances are you've heard his music. His song "Home" was recorded in 2012 by American Idol winner Phillip Phillips and became a huge hit, selling over five million copies and influencing many subsequent songs by other artists.

Recorded at a café in Paris on a crisp spring day, Madeleine speaks frankly and candidly about her teenage years in Paris, her career, her creative process, and the value of perpetual dissatisfaction.

Bassist, singer, songwriter Alan Hampton is often recognized for playing as a sideman with Robert Glasper,  Gretchen Parlato, and Andrew Bird. He has released two albums of his own original songs; the most recent. "Origami for the Fire" came out in the fall of 2014. Here he talks about growing up in Texas, moving to New York, and making music that transcends genre.  Stream below or  download from...

Indian vocalist Falu was born Falguni Shah in Mumbai. She was raised with a musical mother who she says started training her in Indian classical singing when she was barely three years old. By the time she graduated from college, she had spent the majority of her life literally living inside the music, and was determined to devote herself to singing. She has lived in the united states since 2000....

Singer - songwriter Alex Cuba was born Alexis Puentes in Artemisa, Cuba, but since 1999 he has lived in Canada. He has won two  Juno Awards  and two Latin Grammys, and his songs have been recorded by many other Latin pop artists. Growing up, he was immersed in music at a very young age. His father was a respected guitarist and teacher named Valentin Puentes, and as a young boy Alex appeared in his...

Bill Stewart is one of the most creative jazz drummers around today. Since moving to New York in 1989, he has been busy playing in groups with the likes of Joe Lovano, John Scofield, Maceo Parker, and Pat Metheny. Here he talks about growing up in Iowa, finding his way into the music and out of the Midwest, the early days of his career in New York, his approach to playing and composing.

Doug Wamble is a very soulful musician and singer - the blues runs deep in his playing, and he has a direct, funky approach to songwriting and composing. Doug grew up in the south – he was born in Clarksville, Tennessee and raised in Memphis. Although he grew up with music in his family, he only started to play music in his late teens. But when he decided to become a musician, dove in deep. After...

Jascha Hoffman is a singer, songwriter, and journalist. He writes regularly for The New York Times (he has a monthly column called "The Scan" that covers science and culture). He's also a regular contributor to the science journal Nature, and his work has appeared in Scientific American, The Boston Globe, and Business Week. As a singer-songwriter Jascha has recorded three records. His most recent...

Guitarist Steve Khan was born and raised in Los Angeles in a house of songs. His father, lyricist and songwriter Sammy Cahn, made countless contributions to the American songbook. As a young boy, Steve was surrounded by his father's friends and collaborators; Dean Martin was a regular at the house.  But as he describes it, his father's world was not particularly attractive to him, and he felt a re...

Jacob Collier is a singer, multi-instrumentalist, arranger and youtube sensation. He's primarily known for a series of music videos that he posts online, in which he creates ingenious arrangements of songs by composers ranging from Jerome Kern to Stevie Wonder. In the videos, he records himself singing elaborate and ingenious harmonies, and films himself singing each of the parts, dressed in a sli...