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Ben Hirsh Sidran was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 14, 1943 and raised in Racine, Wisconsin. Attending the University fo Wisconsin he became a member of The Ardells along with Steve Miller and Boz Scaggs. When Miller and Scaggs left Wisconsin for the West Coast and stardom, he stayed behind to earn a degree in English literature. After graduating in 1966, he enrolled in the University of Sussex, England to pursue a PhD degree in American Studies.

Sidran rejoined Miller in an English recording studio the next year, playing on the album Children of the Future and while in England, he was a session musician for Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, Peter Frampton and Charlie Watts. When Scaggs and Jim Peterman departedfrom Miller’s band in 1969, he joined as a full-time keyboardist. After a brief stint in Los Angeles, where he began his career as a recording artist, he returned to Madison in 1971 and has kept the university town as a home-base ever since, playing often with such Madison-based talents as drummer Clyde Stubblefield and his keyboardist-composer son, Leo.

Over the years, while continuing to travel, perform and produce, he taught the business of music courses at the University and, beginning in 1981, hosted a variety of jazz programs for NPR, including the Peabody Award Winning “Jazz Alive” series and for VH1 television where his “New Visions” series in the early 1990s won the Ace Award.

As a musician and a producer Ben has released thirty-four solo recordings and collaborated with jazz and pop artists that include Mose Allison, Van Morrison, Diana Ross and Rickie Lee Jones. His written works include the book “Black Talk,” (on the sociology of black music in America), the memoir “A Life in the Music,” “Talking Jazz,” a collection of his historic interviews with jazz musicians.

He authored “There Was a Fire: Jews, Music and the American Dream,” a cultural history of the Jewish contribution to American popular music during the 20th century and a finalist for the 2012 National Jewish Book Award. He has recorded 33 albums for Capitol, Blue Thumb, Arista, Bluebird/RCA, Horizon, Polystar, Island, Go Jazz, Nardis and Bonsai record labels. Pianist, organist, vocalist, writer and educator Ben Sidran continues to expand his legacy or performance and education.

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