Leo Sidran

Saxophonist and bandleader Lakecia Benjamin has become one of the most dynamic voices in jazz. She tells Leo Sidran about one of her first professional experiences, and how the mentors, heroes, setbacks and aspirations that shaped her journey continue to inform her new album, We Dream.

Leo Sidran catches up with Zev Feldman, a man often called 'the Indiana Jones of Jazz'. Others know him as 'the jazz detective'. He prefers something simpler: a music fan who never stopped asking questions. “I literally search the world for previously unissued recordings of this music - America’s classical music."

WBGO’s Ray Long talks with Mikey Bar-Lavi, creator and host of the NYC-based “Sleeves” record club (‘like a book club, but for records…’)

After traveling to Spain to accept a surprising jazz award, Leo Sidran finds himself wrestling with an old question: what is jazz, anyway? The answer arrives later that night at Madrid's Café Central, where musicians and fans gather to sing an impromptu tribute to the late Sonny Rollins.

Leo Sidran explores the newly unearthed treasure trove from the archives of photographer Steve Schapiro, a photo book entitled "Jazz" offering a priceless look inside the happenings of jazz in 1960s New York City.

To mark what would have been Miles Davis's 100th birthday, The Third Story with Leo Sidran revisits a rare 1986 conversation between Miles and Ben Sidran, recorded on the terrace of Miles’s Malibu home.

WBGO’s Dave Popkin catches up with The Nth Power to cover their new record “Never Alone” plus performing with Snarky Puppy and more.

To mark what would have been Miles Davis’s 100th birthday, Leo Sidran revisits a rare 1986 conversation between Miles and Ben Sidran, recorded on the terrace of Miles’s Malibu home. As musicians around the world celebrate the centennial, Miles reflects on creativity, individuality, and the lifelong search for something new.

In the centennial year of Miles Davis and John Coltrane, pianist Emmet Cohen says the greatest tribute to the masters isn’t imitation, it’s self-discovery. As his new album Universal Truth arrives the same week he turns 36, Cohen reflects on artistry, mentorship, and why jazz remains one of the last places where people fully inhabit the moment.

At a moment when musicians are increasingly expected to market themselves as brands, Detroit pianist and songwriter Mike Harrison is connecting for almost the opposite reason: he seems perfectly content not trying to sell you anything at all. Leo Sidran talks with the unlikely internet favorite about songwriting, Detroit, jazz, and the freedom of low ambition.