Leo Sidran
Host of The Third StoryLeo Sidran is a Grammy winning multi-instrumentalist musician, producer, arranger, composer, recording artist and podcast host based in Brooklyn, New York.
Raised around music and musicians, Sidran started writing songs professionally as a teenager when the Steve Miller Band recorded four of his songs for their 1993 Wide River album. Around the same time, he began performing regularly as a drummer with his father, renowned and multifaceted jazzman Ben Sidran.
Sidran’s seven solo albums have explored the space between pop music, jazz, Brazilian and singer songwriter genres. Jazz Magazine in France says “Leo Sidran makes pop music swing.” Jazz Times says of Leo, “Vocally he suggests an amalgam of his father Ben with a hint of Donald Fagen. His fluid laidback style is reminiscent of Bob Dorough. Musically and lyrically his compositions are smart, sharp, and sparklingly original.” His most recent album, The Art Of Conversation was released in 2021. El Pais in Spain called it a “hymn to empathy”.
In addition to his solo career he has produced or co-produced projects for artists around the world (often in the Latin music space) including the Oscar winning song “Al otro lado del rio” for Jorge Drexler (from the film The Motorcycle Diaries), the Latin Grammy winning Healer for Cuban singer Alex Cuba, Grammy Nominated Mis Americas for Argentine-American songwriter Kevin Johansen, and The Original for Clyde Stubblefield (James Brown's original funky drummer). Leo has produced all of Ben Sidran’s records for the last 15 years, most recently Swing State.
Leo’s music has been featured in hundreds of advertisements for the world’s biggest brands, and he has scored long form projects for outlets including ESPN 30 for 30, Discovery, IFC, Sundance, and PBS.
As a drummer, he has played and recorded with jazz luminaries including Phil Woods, Howard Levy, David Fathead Newman, Clark Terry, Dave Grusin, Rick Margitza, and many more. He tours regularly around the world with his father’s quartet and his love of jazz continues to inform much of his work.
Above all, Leo loves to connect with people, which is what led him to start his much heralded podcast The Third Story, featuring interviews with musicians, producers, songwriters, and others in the creative class of all ages about their personal stories and professional journeys. Although it is not specifically a jazz podcast, many of his guests have spent time exploring the space around improvisation and creation.
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Leo Sidran had attended the Montreal International Jazz Festival before as an artist. This time, he went to cover the fest for WBGO and The Third Story, diving into the deep end (and coming up with some treasure). -
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In this episode of The Third Story, guitarist Julian Lage talks with Leo Sidran about his relationship with the guitar, the path forward for a prodigy, and how music should feel like a conversation. -
After a two-year slowdown due to COVID, the Montreal International Jazz Festival is back in full this year, but not without some caveats. For The Art of the Story, Leo Sidran files some first impressions. -
In this episode of The Third Story, recorded at Ronnie Scott's jazz club in London, Stacey Kent opens up about why she’s a fatalist; her escape from New Jersey, and from the bounds of category; and her latest release, Songs From Other Places. -
In a conversation from 2019, Donald Fagen reveals a lot of things, including his conviction that Steely Dan had "more in common with punk than with the confessional California singer-songwriters" they were often compared to. -
Best known as the cofounder of Scary Pockets, Ryan Lerman is also an accomplished singer-songwriter, bassist, arranger and producer. He joins Leo Sidran on The Third Story to talk about the music business, viral funk fame, what he learned by being a sideman, and what minor nine chords have to do with any of it. -
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Eric Harland is one of the most in-demand jazz drummers of his generation. Speaking with Leo Sidran on The Third Story, he talks about coming up in Houston, learning from legends, and exploring the properties of "time."
