sideman
Americannoun
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sidemen
plural
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an instrumentalist in a band or orchestra.
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an instrumentalist supporting a soloist or a principal performer.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of sideman
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Mastodon’s other newest member is keyboardist João Nogueira, a revelation on the album and at the Palladium, though he’s been a sideman to the band for years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
He played his first gig in the Bronx, N.Y., at age 14, and five years later he was hired as a sideman on his first recording session, accompanying bebop vocalist Babs Gonzales in 1949.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026
The main distinction is that Esposito is the lead as opposed to the sideman, a designation that he should have received much earlier in his career.
From Salon ● Mar. 31, 2024
Lives Lived: Bill Lee was a bassist and composer who scored the early films of his son Spike Lee and worked prolifically as a sideman for Bob Dylan and Aretha Franklin.
From New York Times ● May 25, 2023
The Committee-man hath a sideman, or rather a setter, hight a Sequestrator, of whom you may say, as of the great Sultan's horse, where he treads the grass grows no more.
From Character Writings of the 17th Century by Various
These five musicians are acclaimed bandleaders and sought-after sidemen, sometimes in each other’s ensembles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 25, 2025
Coltrane did not believe his fellow musicians were mere sidemen.
From New York Times ● Feb. 7, 2024
Davis — an astute judge of talent whose sidemen over the years included John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett and other future stars — decided he wanted him in his band.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 28, 2020
While older sidemen played jazz or pop standards in formal blue blazers, Mr. Blaine and his younger cohort embraced rock-and-roll and dressed in jeans and T-shirts.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 12, 2019
Pending that day wardens and sidemen drew up their bills of presentment.
From The Elizabethan Parish in its Ecclesiastical and Financial Aspects by Sedley Lynch Ware
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