The Third Story with Leo Sidran

Imagine walking into a restaurant, ordering a meal, eating the meal, giving the chef a hard time, giving the waiter a little bit of an attitude, and then deciding not to pay for the meal at the end of the night. In many ways, that's how the business of writing music for advertising is set up. Why is that? Who set it up that way? Is it possible the music creators, the composers, and music houses are responsible for giving away too much for too little? In this third installment in a series of episodes about music in advertising former advertising executive Ken Yagoda, commercial music producer Mike Boris, and editor Maury Loeb layout the business from the advertising agency and editorial point of view, and explain who influences the music that gets chosen, how the business has changed and what the future holds. www.patreon.com/thirdstorypodcast www.third-story.com

Part of the Settling the Underscore series of episodes that explores music for advertising, this interview with composer Alex Weinstein explores an alternate reality in which the composer works in a direct and collaborative way with the director and the client from the very start of the process! My mind is blown. My heart is open. Whole world turned upside down. Hope restored. This bonus episode is brought to you by the patronage of listeners like you. Patreon.com/thirdstorypodcast third-story.com

In this, the second of a series that explores music in commercials, we talk to three freelance commercial composers. These are the often invisible, uncredited creators of music for advertising. How does one enter the business of writing music for advertising? Who are the people who thrive in that world? What skills are required? What is the lifestyle of the creative composer? How much rejection can one person stand? What is it like to be a woman in a boys club? www.patreon.com/thirdstorypodcast www.third-story.com

Behind every television commercial, there's an entire economy dedicated to selecting, providing, creating and sourcing music. What was once considered the "jingle" business has now become one of the last sources of real income in recorded music. Today, publishers, bands, composers, production libraries, artists and labels are all vying for a piece of the pie. In this first of a series of episodes dedicated to the world of commercial music, I talk to two composer / entrepreneurs who have each put in their time on both the creative and business end of things. John "Scrapper" Sneider of Storefront Music, and Wendell Hanes of "Volition Sound". Support the Third Story Podcast on Patreon! www.patreon.com/thirdstorypodcast www.third-story.com

Jonatha Brooke has been one of my favorite singer songwriters since the first moment I heard her, 25 years ago. Her haunting, unique sound with the band The Story sent me reeling, and in many ways I've still never recovered. Since then, she's recorded nearly a dozen albums under her own name. The most recent, "Midnight Hallelujah" came out earlier this year. Can songwriting be taught? What is the future for independent songwriters? How do artists monetize access? How much personal information is too much to share on social media? How has her personal journey changed her sound throughout the years? Why is she so self critical? What is it like to write songs with Katy Perry? It's all here and MORE! www.third-story.com And this week for the first time, you can support the podcast at www.patreon.com/thirdstorypodcast - get involved!

On this final installment of the Mob Town Tour series, we visit Detroit, Cleveland and Toledo. In our first Mob Town episode we talked to Irv Williams, who at 98 years old, is still performing every week in his community. In our second, we talked to Dave Jemilo, the club owner from Chicago who has helped to shape the jazz scene in town. In our third chapter, we looked at jazz as regional music through the lens of Milwaukee. And today, we look at how the arts are the appetite for life, and how life on the road can change people. From the art deco elegance of Detroit's Cliff Bells club, to the neighborhood charm of Cleveland's Nighttown, to the pop up art collective Collingwood Art Center in Toledo (a converted convent), each city has its own unique arts community. Particularly in Detroit and Toledo, two cities that have been hit hard economically, the arts showed some of the first signs of renaissance. Music and art grow up through the cracks in the concrete, like wild flowers. In Cleveland we connected with saxophonist Richie Cole, a lifelong road warrior, who at 70 years old is finally tired of traveling. "I'm the luckiest guy I know," he says. www.third-story.com

On this third installment of the Mob Town Tour series of episodes, we explore the Milwaukee jazz scene. I've always been interested in the Milwaukee players and sound, going back to when I was a young musician coming up in Madison. Here I talk to pianist David Hazeltine, bassist Jeff Hamann and pianist Mark Davis, and my father Ben, about the history of jazz in Milwaukee. We're also exploring the idea of regional dialects when it comes to jazz, and music in general. What does it mean to have a bunch of creative people leaning in the same direction, or speaking in the same accent, and what brings that on? Particularly today, is it still possible retain local flavor and speak a regional dialect in a global world? Today all musicians have access to the same information - and that's all the information. But do they still have access to their scene? third-story.com

On week two of the Mob Town Tour series of podcasts, we explore the Green Mill in Chicago. One of the greatest jazz clubs in the world. It's a kind of jazz unicorn. A joint that walks the line and manages to serve the community at large and the musicians too. You'd think this would be normal, but it's not. It's very rareAnd that is due in no small part to the owner, Dave Jemilo. In this episode we spend some time talking with musician Bob Rockwell (the saxophone player in the Ben Sidran Quartet) about the Chicago musical legacy, and we also check in with vocalist Kurt Elling and organist Chris Foreman about playing at the Green Mill. But the real meat in this pod sandwich comes from Jemilo himself, perhaps the finest example of a real Chicagoan that you will ever meet. Pull up a stool and make yourself comfortable because we're going to do this one Chicago style. Deep dish, baby. Third-story.com

The first in a series of road documentaries capturing our journey, some conversations about it and what it means. Notably it features an in depth conversation with Minneapolis based jazz saxophone player Irv Williams, the oldest working jazz musician alive.

Morgan has a soulful voice: big pipes, lots of power, a certain swagger, and incredible technique. But although she has a classic sound, fed by by the likes of Chaka Khan, Nina Simone and Eva Cassidy, she has a modern career. Her path has been completely unexpected, unpredictable, and in some ways unbelievable. Here, as she says, we "dig deep into the journey". Her new album, Reckless Abandon, came out last month. www.third-story.com