On September 10, internationally acclaimed musicians Ben and Leo Sidran will appear in concert to benefit Wingra School at An Evening of Jazz.

Ben Sidran
Although best known in some circles for writing Steve Miller’s hit song “Space Cowboy,” Ben Sidran is more widely recognized as the host of National Public Radio’s landmark jazz series “Jazz Alive”, which received a Peabody Award, and as the host of VH-1 television’s “New Visions” series, which received the Ace Award for best music series.

A pianist, producer, singer and composer, he has recorded twenty five solo albums, including the Grammy nominated “Concert for Garcia Lorca,” and has produced recordings for such noted artists as Van Morrison, Diana Ross, Mose Allison and Jon Hendricks. He composed the soundtrack for the acclaimed film Hoop Dreams, and scored the documentary Vietnam: Long Time Coming, which won both the Aspen Film Festival audience award and an Emmy.

He is the author of two books on the subject of jazz, “Black Talk,” a cultural history of the music, and “Talking Jazz,” a series of conversations with well known musicians. His most recent records include “Walk Pretty”, the songs of Alec Wilder, “Nick's Bump”. and “Cien Noches” recorded live in Madrid. Sidran is currently completing an album of Bob Dylan songs (“Dylan Different”) and working on a text, “Jews, Music and the American Dream”.

For more information, visit www.bensidran.com.

Leo Sidran
Leo Sidran is a musician, composer, performer, and producer whose credits include producing the Oscar-winning soundtrack for the movie The Motorcycle Diaries.

He began his career in music early. Having learned to play the drums from funk-jazz percussionist Clyde Stubblefield, he toured as a teenager with veteran rock star Steve Miller.

The Steve Miller Band recorded Leo's songs before he had graduated from high school. Miller, a longtime friend and collaborator with Leo's father, Ben Sidran, taught Leo to play the guitar. Leo and Joy Dragland are heard on Joy and the Boy.

In 2004 they released Paradise on Nardis Records (that's Sidran spelled backward).

For more information, visit www.leosidran.com.

Wingra School is a small, independent day school providing a progressive education for children ages 5-14 in the Madison area since 1972. For more information, visit our website at http://www.wingraschool.org or follow us on Twitter and Facebook.