"Renaissance Man" and "polymath" are just two of the epithets that have been applied to BEN SIDRAN in an attempt to describe his impressive multiplicity of talents. On the music side, he's a noted singer, songwriter, pianist, producer, and even a record company owner (he ran the label Go Jazz between 1989 and 2003 and now oversees a newer company, Nardis) but if that isn't impressive enough, he's also an author (to date, he's written five books), a respected cultural commentator, and an award-winning broadcaster. He is, then, a man who wears many hats, though he's certainly no dilettante or a jack of all trades: rather, everything he puts his hand - or mind - to, he masters completely and with apparent ease.
Though Sidran is primarily regarded as a jazz musician, early on in his career he was a member of the American rock group, the Steve Miller Band, and co-wrote their classic track, 'Space Cowboy,' and also did sessions with Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones. His own solo career, though, which began in 1971, saw him plough a unique stylistic furrow, melding pop and funk with bebop and an appreciation of wit and wordplay inherited from his hero, Mose Allison.
Now 75, Sidran, who has recorded almost forty albums (his last one, 'Picture Him Happy,' came out in 2017), is the focus of a new, lovingly-curated retrospective which distils forty years of live recordings down to 3 CDs and 27 songs. It's called 'Ben There, Done That: Ben Sidran Live Around The World (1975-2015)' and captures the singer-songwriter on stage in Japan, Europe (England, Italy, Spain, and France) and his native USA. It functions like a sonic time machine that transports the listener back to different junctures in Sidran's storied career, ultimately painting a vivid portrait of an artist evolving over the years. On some of the set's earliest performances - like an incendiary1975 version of Dizzy Gillespie's 'Birk's Works' - Sidran is musically on fire, playing febrile, bop-inflected piano lines, while on later tracks - a 2015 rendition of 'The Groove Is Gonna Get You,' for example - he is perceptibly more relaxed and at ease on stage; and crucially, settling into a deeper, more luxuriant groove, seemingly both in music and in life.
SJF's Charles Waring recently caught up with Ben Sidran, who not only shed light on his new album project but also talked at length about different aspects of his long career...
Last Updated on Tuesday, 06 November 2018 19:18
Ed Motta is a remarkable man on several levels. Firstly, he's an accomplished singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who, because of his stylistic versatility and chameleonic eclecticism, has been dubbed Brazil's answer to Prince. Secondly, he's renowned globally among fellow crate-diggers as an avid and obsessive record collector, who, at the last count, had in excess of 30,000 LPs propping up the walls to his house. And thirdly, he's noted for his passion for the good things in life, which include food and wine (for many years he wrote about viniculture in Brazilian newspapers and magazines). But that's not all, Motta possesses an encyclopaedic knowledge of many subjects - he's an avowed cinema buff who loves old movies and is also fervent devotee of sci-fi novels and comic books. His talents and interests are multifarious and he's erudite to the extent that he could be declared an "expert" on many topics. He is, then, what many would call a "Renaissance Man."
Last time we spoke with the genial PAUL CARRACK was in 2013. It was on the back of the release of his 'Rain or Shine' long player... we asked him then how and why he kept going after such a lengthy and garlanded career... five years down the line, Sheffield's finest is still hard at work. He's just released a new album, 'These Days' and he's lining up another lengthy tour. So when we met up we posed the same question... what's the motivation to keep going, to keep writing/recording and touring? Why not retire and buy that speed boat on the Isle of Wight (the one pictured on the cover of the new album) and live comfortably..... you must have a few bob by now?
Depending on which generation you belong to and where your musical allegiances lie, keyboard legend Bob James is either the father of smooth jazz or the godfather of hip-hop. Though ostensibly a jazz musician whose breakthrough came at CTI Records in the mid-1970s when he pioneered an accessible, radio-friendly brand of jazz fusion, this genial Missouri musician discovered in the late '80s that his music was being plundered for samples by hip-hop producers in search of ready-made grooves and break-beats. To date, James is the 14th most sampled musician of all time (in pole position is James Brown, of course), something which he's simultaneously both mystified by and tremendously proud of. "I'm still shocked," laughs James, "but it's wonderful and a reminder to me that throughout my career as a composer who has attempted to handle my copyrights as well as I can, the more that you can keep control over your work, the better, because you never know when something is going to be at the right place at the right time." 
On August 24 Lucie Silvas will release E.G.O., her fourth album and her follow up to her critically-acclaimed and roots-infused Letters to Ghosts.
