298 - Aron!
The Third Story Podcast with Leo Sidran
Aron! is only 22, but his music seems to exist outside of time. A singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist from North Carolina, he studied classical guitar, jazz voice, and film scoring—playing everything from indie rock in a college band to Nat King Cole covers in retirement homes—before landing on a sound that feels both old school and strikingly fresh. (He calls his sound “vintage pop”.) His debut EP cozy you (and other nice songs) began as a self-produced student project, recorded in a college studio with friends. It was completed before he signed with Verve Records—one of...
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297: Natalia Lafourcade
The Third Story Podcast with Leo Sidran
Over the past two decades, Natalia Lafourcade has evolved from alt-pop prodigy to one of the most revered voices in Latin American music. With 15 Latin Grammys and 4 Grammys to her name, she’s known for blending contemporary expression with deep cultural roots. Her latest album, Cancionera, is a bold new statement—a stripped-down, emotionally direct record that draws on her Veracruz heritage, the son jarocho tradition, and a mystical alter ego she calls La Cancionera. In this conversation, Natalia reflects on the power of presence, the value of silence, and her decision to perform...
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296: Terri Lyne Carrington
The Third Story Podcast with Leo Sidran
Terri Lyne Carrington has spent her life behind the drums—and out in front. In this wide-ranging conversation, the Grammy-winning musician, educator, and activist reflects on her remarkable journey from child prodigy to visionary bandleader, and from mentee to mentor. She shares stories from her early gigs with jazz legends like Clark Terry and Buddy Rich, her formative years with Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, and her ongoing work shaping the next generation through the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice. We spoke on the occasion of We Insist 2025!, Carrington’s powerful new...
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295 - pablopablo
The Third Story Podcast with Leo Sidran
pablopablo - born Pablo Drexler - is a Madrid-based singer, songwriter, and producer. The son of two acclaimed artists, Jorge Drexler and Ana Laan, here he talks about how he found his own voice, sound, and artistic identity. His debut full-length album, Canciones en mi, is out now. The title is a bilingual play on words—“in E” (as in the musical key), and “in me”—and it perfectly captures the spirit of the record: introspective, expressive, and sonically bold. Pablo shares the story of growing up in a small town outside Madrid with a big, multilingual worldview. We discuss...
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288: Crossing the river - 20 years of "Al otro lado del rio"
The Third Story Podcast with Leo Sidran
Twenty years ago, “Al otro lado del río" became the first Spanish-language song to win an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Written by Jorge Drexler in a single day while staying in Madison, Wisconsin, and recorded in a mix of home and studio settings, the song’s journey was as unexpected as its lyrics suggested. At the time, it felt like an anomaly. This year, when “El Mal” from Amelia Perez won the same award, it barely registered as unusual. That alone says something about how much can shift in 20 years—culturally, personally, globally. Here we revisit that historic night...
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294: Suzanne Vega
The Third Story Podcast with Leo Sidran
Legendary singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega looks back at her remarkable career — and forward to her new album, Flying with Angels, her first collection of original songs in nearly a decade. From the moment she emerged in the 1980s with her self-titled debut and follow-up Solitude Standing, Vega has occupied a singular space in popular music. Known for her literate lyrics, calm delivery, and understated innovation, she became an unlikely pop star with songs like “Luka” — a devastating portrait of abuse — and “Tom’s Diner,” which began as an a cappella sketch and became a surprise...
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293: Arturo O'Farrill
The Third Story Podcast with Leo Sidran
When Arturo O’Farrill was 19 years old, playing piano in a bar in upstate New York, he was spotted by Carla Bley—who promptly invited him to join her band. At the time, he was doing everything he could to distance himself from the legacy of his father, the legendary Cuban composer Chico O’Farrill. He avoided anything labeled “Latin” like his life depended on it. But as he tells it, the real turning point came when bassist Andy Gonzalez sat him down and played him the history of Afro Latin music. Arturo realized that the music he’d rejected might actually be his greatest...
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292: Max Pollak
The Third Story Podcast with Leo Sidran
When he was five years old, Max Pollak had a moment. Sitting in front of a black-and-white television in suburban Vienna, he saw Fred Astaire tap dancing for the first time. “I was so spellbound by his elegance and his effortless swinging persona that I immediately decided I have to learn how to do that,” he remembers. He didn’t understand the cultural context or the language, but he knew that whatever was happening on that screen — the rhythm, the movement, the magic — was something he had to pursue. That moment sparked a lifelong journey that would take him from Austria to Harlem...
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291: Raul Midón
The Third Story Podcast with Leo Sidran
Self-proclaimed “badass and blind” singer, songwriter, guitarist Raul Midón in an expansive and deeply personal conversation about music, identity, independence, and the art of seeing clearly without sight. From his childhood fascination with radio and jazz in a small New Mexico town to his breakout moment in New York with legendary producer Arif Mardin, Midón shares the story of how he forged his unique artistic path. Blind since infancy, Midón has navigated life and a career with extraordinary intention and vision. He discusses the development of his signature sound — a percussive,...
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290: Stephin Merritt (The Magnetic Fields)
The Third Story Podcast with Leo Sidran
Songwriter Stephin Merritt on impermanence, organizing principles, and the art of constraints: Raised by a spiritually seeking mother, Merritt moved 33 times by age 22 and describes himself as a “hippie brat” who “never liked children—even as a child.” This sense of solitude shaped his singular voice as the creative force behind The Magnetic Fields, who are touring this year to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their landmark triple album 69 Love Songs. In recent years, his productivity has slowed due to long COVID, a development he accepts with dark humor: “The gods have...
info_outlineTrumpeter/composer Keyon Harrold was born and raised in Ferguson, MO to a musical family. He is the son of pastors and one of 16 children. As a boy, a trumpet was placed in his hands, and the rest is history.
He moved to New York to study at The New School in the 1990s and became part of a legendary generation of musicians associated with the neo soul movement, including Common, Bilal, Roy Hargrove, The Roots, and Robert Glasper.
Harrold is a reliable and sought after player among big acts, and he’s worked with Jay-Z, Beyonce, Rihanna, Eminem, Maxwell, Mac Miller and Snoop Dogg. At the same time he’s a seriously gifted jazz improviser and composer, who was mentored by trumpeter Charles Tolliver, and who was once referred to as “the future of the trumpet” by Wynton Marsalis.
He supplied all of the trumpet playing in Don Cheadle’s Miles Davis biopic Miles Ahead, playing to match Cheadle’s on-screen performance as Miles. The soundtrack to the film won a Grammy.
But while Keyon has enjoyed what might appear to be a charmed career, he has also had a series of unexpected setbacks and heavy lived experiences that contribute to his musical journey.
His new album Foreverland is a celebration of his multidimensional career and his sensitivity as an artist, proving that Harrold is a master of channeling his lived experience through his horn.
The album features 10 original songs that explore themes of empowerment, positivity, love, loss, and vulnerability. And it’s a family affair — nearly every musician is a longtime friend, including Common, Robert Glasper, Laura Mvula, Chris Dave, Marcus Gilmore, Nir Felder, Randy Runyon, BIGYUKI, Burniss Travis and many others.
Here he talks about Foreverland, how a series of losses in his life ultimately led him to make “something beautiful, something positive, something inspiring,” and his reflections on the early days of his career as part of a community of like minded musicians who were “always open.”