Consider, for a moment, the sideman. </p><p> The best ones have strong ideas of their own. And those ideas just keep growing as the sideman works with strong leaders.</p><p> Now consider pianist Edward Simon, sideman extraordinaire with Bobby Watson, Terence Blanchard and other strong leaders. He&rsquo;s coming to the Folly Theater this weekend with a project of his own, a band called Afinidad. It features his cross-cultural compositions and singer Gretchen Parlato, one of the most talked-about young vocalists of today.</p><p> It shows that Simon is the sideman who might not remain a sideman much longer. </p><p> He has surrounded himself with other strong players: drummer Antonio Sanchez, a sparkplug of many a Pat Metheny project; bassist Scott Colley, known for making difficult assignments from leaders like Herbie Hancock and Andrew Hill look easy; alto saxophonist David Binney, an imaginative player who&rsquo;s too often overlooked; guitarist Adam Rogers, who&rsquo;s worked with Michael Brecker and Cassandra Wilson; and percussionist Rogerio Boccato. </p><p> Looking back on his career so far, 40-year-old Simon said on the phone from his Florida home, &ldquo;I seem to surround myself with musicians who are both great players and composers.&rdquo;</p><p> That would explain his long association with Watson and his Horizon band, first from 1989 to 1994 and then again when Watson, now based back in Kansas City, re-formed the band in 2004. </p><p> &ldquo;Playing with Bobby Watson was really an education for me,&rdquo; Simon said. &ldquo;I felt like I really needed to address the tradition of the music. &hellip; It really allowed me to night after night feel what it&rsquo;s like to play with really great improvisers who understand blues and swing.&rdquo;</p><p> In 1994, he moved over to trumpeter Blanchard&rsquo;s band.</p><p> &ldquo;It was great to be able to play with someone from New Orleans, because you could hear the connection to New Orleans traditional music. In his band I was able to consolidate a lot of influences and crystallize my voice as a jazz pianist even more. &hellip; And Terence was writing music for two or three films a year, and he was always asking me to record on the soundtracks.&rdquo;</p><p> Other leaders who have depended on Simon include alto saxophonist Paquito d&rsquo;Rivera and flutist Herbie Mann. He&rsquo;s also joining the all-star SFJazz Collective on its next tour. </p><p>Simon is the consummate jazz insider, but jazz once seemed a foreign language to him. In his native Venezuela, he grew up on salsa, merengue and cumbia. He took to music early and was performing in his brother&rsquo;s band by age 10. &ldquo;A lot of places we performed, kids were not allowed. We had to come in through the back door, and they&rsquo;d have to hide me behind the other musicians.&rdquo;</p><p> Jazz sneaked into his perception through bands like Irakere. He first came to the U.S. as a young teen, and got serious about his musical studies. Back in Venezuela, his father heard what strides the boy had made and sent him to Philadelphia&rsquo;s High School for Creative and Performing Arts at 15. He was studying classical music, but the location provided an entry point onto the jazz scene. </p><p> &ldquo;In Philly, I met a lot of musicians with whom I would later work. Like Kevin Eubanks. I joined his band shortly after moving to New York. I met Bobby Watson on a gig in a little town called New Hope. Greg Osby was another I met in Philly; he was the first to record me.&rdquo;</p><p> Simon not only mastered the jazz language, he&rsquo;s enriched his playing and composing with South American elements. It shows in the music of the Afinidad band. On this tour, they&rsquo;re showcasing an ambitious new piece by Simon, &ldquo;Sorrows and Triumphs,&rdquo; created with an award from Chamber Music America, and &ldquo;written with these specific musicians in mind,&rdquo; Simon said.