BEN SIDRAN : ON THE LIVE SIDE

1. The Doctor's Blues
2. Piano Players
3. A Good Travel Agent
4. Mitsubishi Boy
5. On The Cool Side
6. Space Cowboy
7. Last Dance

Label : Magenta Records

Release Date : 1986

Length : 44:12

Venue : Ordway Theater, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA

Recording Date : March 23, 1986

Review (AllMusic) : The follow-up to the popular On the Cool Side, this recording captures Ben Sidran live in concert with his working band and a couple of guests, alto saxophonist Phil Woods and longtime pal, guitarist Steve Miller. The first half of the performance includes some of Sidran's earlier works, when he was working in an all-acoustic format, while the second half has more of the Cool Side sound. The concert is entertaining and the playing is first-rate, though listeners familiar with Sidran only through Cool Side may be surprised at the amount of space accorded his acoustic side, and the musical-historian voice he employs on the older compositions. Especially interesting is a jazz reworking of the Sidran/Miller composition "Space Cowboy," which first appeared on the 1969 Steve Miller Band album Brave New World. This concert was also released on video.