Miles Davis spent his life searching. He changed the sound of jazz repeatedly, assembling generations of musicians around him and pushing constantly toward something new. Few artists loom so large over the history of the music.

To mark what would have been his 100th birthday today, I'm revisiting a rare 1986 conversation between Miles and my dad, Ben Sidran, recorded on the terrace of Miles' Malibu home.

At a time when Miles was reticent about revisiting his past, in this interview he reflected on Kind of Blue, his early musical development and influences, as well as his ideas about creativity, individuality and what it means to make a meaningful artistic contribution.

To start the episode, Ben and I had our own conversation about the Miles interview, his memory of doing it, how it resonated at the time and how it resonates today. In the 40 years since it was recorded, the interview has become one of the definitive documents of Miles' thinking during that period.

Ben's original interview with Miles Davis was originally made for his NPR program Sidran on Record, and is now part of his Talking Jazz project. The full archive is available at https://talkingjazz.bandcamp.com/album/talking-jazz

Today's episode image is borrowed from "Notes from the Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame" produced by Quoted Studios and Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Mexican singer-songwriter Julieta Venegas on how growing up in Tijuana - a border city suspended between Mexico and the United States - developed an instinct for living "in-between," musically and personally.

She traces her path from a musically curious childhood in Tijuana to her move to Mexico City, the emergence as one of Latin music's defining singer-songwriters and her return to her roots through her new album Norteña and memoir, both of which revisit the border identity and intuition that first shaped her artistic life.

www.third-story.com
www.leosidran.substack.com
www.wbgo.org/podcast/the-third-story

Dida Pelled on her latest album I Wish You Would, a blues-focused project recorded with Tony Scherr, Kenny Wollesen, and Sullivan Fortner. Along the way she considers her approach to tradition, identity, and finding a personal voice across genres. And she talks about she discovered the truth about her sexuality, her singing, and the six strings she loves so much.

www.third-story.com
www.leosidran.substack.com
www.wbgo.org/podcast/the-third-story