Sirota was born in Champaign, IL, on May 3, 1969, but spent most of his pre-adult years in the Chicago suburbs. He began studying the drums when he was 11 in 1980, and at 18 Sirota moved to Boston to attend the well-known Berklee College of Music. The drummer spent half a decade in Boston, where he graduated from Berklee in 1991 and was a member of an avant-garde jazz group called the Last Kwartet (which also included trombonist Sara P. Smith, bassist Chris Lopes, and frequent companion Jeff Parker). Sirota didn't play jazz exclusively in Boston; he also played in various soca and reggae bands in that New England city. Although Boston has long had a healthy and attractive music scene, Sirota opted to move back to Chicago in 1992 -- and the other members of the Last Kwartet moved there with him. Sirota's two-year association with Eddie Kirkland began in 1993, and in 1995, he became a member of a Chicago-based outfit called the Sabertooth Jazz Quartet (which frequently appeared at the Green Mill, one of the Windy City's best known jazz clubs).
It was in 1996 that Sirota formed his group Ted Sirota's Rebel Souls, which sounds like the name of a reggae band but specializes in instrumental avant-garde and post-bop jazz. The band has had different lineups along the way; the members have included Parker, tenor saxophonist Geof Bradfield, cornetist Rob Mazurek, trombonist Jeb Bishop, and bassists Noel Kupersmith, Josh Abrams, and Clark Sommers. Sirota's first album with his Rebel Souls, Rebel Roots, was recorded for the British Naim label in 1996; that CD was followed by Propaganda (a 1999 release on Naim) and Ted Sirota's Rebel Souls vs. the Forces of Evil (a 2001 release). In 2003, Sirota and the Rebel Souls recorded Breeding Resistance for Chicago's long-lasting Delmark label. ~ Alex Henderson, Rovi