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Ben Sidran - Ben There, Done That


GA Russell

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Sunset Blvd Records is Proud to Present

 

BEN SIDRAN

BEN THERE, DONE THAT: BEN SIDRAN LIVE AROUND THE WORLD (1975-2015)

 

27 Tracks of Previously Unissued Live Performances from Pianist, Vocalist, Composer and Producer Ben Sidran Spanning 40 Years and 6 Countries

 

Includes an Extensive 24-page Book with Essays by NPR’s Becca Pulliam and

Co-producers Zev Feldman and Ben Sidran, plus Sirius XM’s Mark Ruffin Interviews Sidran, with Reflections by Janis Siegel (Manhattan Transfer) and Georgie Fame (Van Morrison)

 

Jazz Weekly  One of the last living jazz beatniks, Ben Sidran is richly anthologized on this wonderful 3 disc set that includes “live” music from 1975 up to 2015. Sort of like a musical Mort Sahl, Sidran is the ultimate insider, delivering wry stories … (he) comes off as that cool uncle you see for the holidays; you love sitting next to him and hear things that your parents roll their eyes over, while trying to have you sit a bit away from at the dinner table. Lots of fun!

 

All About Jazz  a 3-CD retrospective of Sidran performing in a variety of formats that only a Renaissance Man like himself could achieve… His writing style mimics his singing, conversational: once folksy, next erudite. He never shows off because he never has to. His bibliography and discography speak for themselves. … That he is still living is our grace. Some gifts just keep on giving... 

Audiophile -- One cool cat… That’s Ben Sidran. His compositions are infectious and swinging, in a manner combining the soulfulness of a Horace Silver, and the cool sensibility of Mose Allison. His lyrics are firmly with beat poets, and his musical arrangements, heavy with a shuffle beat, have an easy-going languorous vibe, like sipping a cool drink on a hot and muggy day, kicking back, being content and satisfied, yet pontificating on the ways of the world.

 

Jazz and Soul  (the set) 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… everything he puts his hand - or mind - to, he masters completely and with apparent ease…

 

 

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Limited Edition Deluxe 3-CD Set  

 

Los Angeles, January 2019 — Sunset Blvd Records is proud to announce the release of Ben There, Done That: Ben Sidran Live Around the World (1975-2015), a staggering 3-disc set of previously unissued electrifying live recordings handpicked by Ben Sidran and recorded in New York, Paris, Madrid, Milan, Osaka, Tokyo, Minneapolis, Madison and London between 1975-2015.

 

The same year Ben Sidran wrote the pop classic “Space Cowboy” with Steve Miller (1969) he earned a PhD in American Studies from Sussex University in England; the following year, his first solo album (Feel Your Groove) was released on Capitol Records – featuring pop icons Boz Scaggs, Peter Frampton and Charlie Watts and jazz legends Blue Mitchell and Willie Ruff – and his dissertation was published as Black Talk, a sociological study of  black music in America. No wonder the Chicago Sun Times referred to Sidran as “a Renaissance man cast adrift in the modern world” and, several decades later, the Times of London was moved to crown him “The first existential jazz rapper.” Sidran’s long career – four decades of highlights captured in Ben There, Done That – is the stuff that legends are made of.

 

There are many great musicians represented throughout the 3-disc set, including saxophonists David “Fathead” Newman and Phil Woods, but no one shines brighter than Bob Malach. In the liner notes Ben recalls, “In 1978, I needed a tenor player for a tour of Japan, and I called my friend Michael Brecker who was busy but recommended ‘this young guy from Philly...’ Bob Malach.”  Malach became Ben’s first-call sax player and they have worked together often over the decades, “hundreds of gigs, thousands of miles,” recalls Ben.  “Bob’s an unsung hero of the music,” Ben says, “an inspiration, a singular voice, a force of nature.”

 

In the package notes, Grammy-winning vocalist, arranger and founding member of The Manhattan Transfer, Janis Siegel says about her friend Sidran, “Ben has always been a modern troubadour to me . . . someone who speaks out in his own witty musical way about injustices, inequalities and the ironies of being human. He is a fount of knowledge about music, a wonderful and thought-provoking writer and a hipster to the bone.” 

 

This deluxe 3CD package clearly documents her sentiments in the clearest most hip, swinging way.

  

DISC ONE

1.         Birk’s Works (3:16) — Minneapolis, KTCZ Radio Broadcast (September 19, 1975)

2.         The Groove Is Gonna Get You (10:39) — Sunset, Paris (November 11, 2015)

3.         The Funkasaurus (8:41) — Tokyo, Cotton Club (May 21, 2009)

4.         That’s Life I Guess (4:11) — Milan, Blue Note (December 1, 2003)

5.         You Can’t Judge a Book (4:32) — Milan, Blue Note (December 1, 2003)

6.         The House of Blue Lights (8:12) — Madison, Jazz @ Five (July 29, 2001)

7.         Dying Anyway (5:20) — Paris, Sunside (November 7, 2000)

8.       On the Road Again (5:28) — Paris, Sunset (May 11, 2007)    

9.       Revenge of the Funky Duck (5:30) — Minneapolis Radio Broadcast (September 19, 1975)    


DISC TWO

1.         Ballin’ on the Reservation (3:02) — Madrid Area Reservada (November 24, 2000)

2.         Blue Minor (6:24) — Milan, Blue Note (December 1, 2003)

3.         Hard Times feat. David “Fathead” Newman (6:02) — New York, Jazz Standard (May 4, 2008)

4.         Minority feat. Phil Woods (6:38) — New York, Jazz Standard (October 7, 2007)

5.         New York State of Mind (10:11) — London, Pizza Express (December 2, 2001)

6.         Let’s Make a Deal / Absent Soul (17:33) — Paris, Sunside (November 7, 2000)

7.         Piano Players (7:29) — Paris, Sunside (November 7, 2000)

DISC THREE

1.         Song for a Sucker Like You (4:41) — New York, Governor’s Island (June 30, 1991)

2.         On the Sunny Side of the Street (6:27) — London, Pizza Express (December 2, 2001)

3.         Mitsubishi Boy (5:13) — Osaka, Blue Note (April 18,1991)

4.         Straighten Up and Fly Right (5:28) — New York, Governor’s Island (June 30, 1991)           

5.         Lip Service (4:41) — Osaka, Blue Note (April 18,1991)

6.         Walking with the Blues (8:30) — Osaka, Blue Note (April 18,1991)

7.         Just a Dream (4:37) — Tokyo, Cotton Club (May 21, 2009)

8.         Language of the Blues (4:23) — Osaka, Blue Note (April 18, 1991)

9.         Too Hot to Touch (4:02) — Tokyo, Quatro (April 19,1991)

10.        My Little Sherry (4:35) — Tokyo, Cotton Club (May 21, 2009)

11.        Life’s a Lesson (2:49) — Tokyo. Blue Note (November 7,1991) 
 

 

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