Symphony Sid
Encyclopedia
Sid Torin was a long-time jazz
disk jockey in the United States
. Many critics have credited him with introducing jazz to the mass audience.
and his mother from Roumania. Sidney was the oldest of three siblings—he had a brother Martin and a sister Mildred. Born on New York
's Lower East Side
, Sid grew up in Brooklyn
, in a poor neighborhood. Not much is known about his youth, although he seems to have become a jazz fan as a teenager, and at one point tried to become a trumpet player. (Passman, 67) One source says he started college and then dropped out as a result of the Depression
. By 1930, the census showed him working at a record store. He first got into radio in 1937, at a radio station in the Bronx, WBNX, where he began as an afternoon disc jockey, doing a show called the "Afternoon Swing Session." His show featured the biggest hits by black performers such as Count Basie
, Duke Ellington
and Ella Fitzgerald
. He became extremely popular with young people, many of whom would come to the station hoping to meet him or make a request. In an era when black music was still not frequently heard on the air, Symphony Sid was among the few white announcers who played what was then called "race" or "sepia" recordings on a regular basis. In addition to being an announcer—in 1937, the word "disc jockey" was not yet in common use—Sid sold airtime for his own program and produced the commercials for his sponsors.
where he became identified with doing the late night shift. His show was called the "After-Hours Swing Session." At WHOM, he began to give up-and-coming black performers exposure. He also began to co-produce and promote jazz concerts, in association with Monte Kay
. One of their first collaborations was in 1945 (some sources say 1942) at New York's Town Hall; it featured two up-and-coming talents, Dizzy Gillespie
and Charlie Parker
. After WHOM, his career took him briefly to WWRL in New York and then to WMCA
. By 1947, he was one of the most well-known jazz disc jockeys, and airplay on his show could give a major boost to any musician. Some grateful performers even wrote songs which they dedicated to him: for example, in 1947, Arnett Cobb recorded "Walkin' With Sid" for the Apollo record label. And also in 1947, Sid began to use a song by Erskine Hawkins
, "After Hours," as the theme of his nightly program.
Sid left WMCA in early June 1949, but he didn't have to wait long for his next job. On 20 June 1949, he received his biggest opportunity: a network program on what was then called WJZ—later known as WABC
. Thanks to his work on the fledgling ABC Radio Network, he was heard in more than 30 states. (Barlow, 158) And as a result of his network show, jazz, especially the music of artists like Miles Davis
and Charlie Parker
, gained wider exposure with a national audience. Later, critics would refer to him as "the dean of jazz radio."
lingo
, his love of be-bop, and his knowledge of the black music scene. While modern critics later accused white jazz disc jockeys like Symphony Sid and Alan Freed
of profiting from black radio and taking jobs away from black announcers (see for example Sinclair, 1989 for example), this did not seem to be a concern during the years when Sid broadcast. He won several awards from black organizations, including an award for Disc Jockey
of the Year presented to him in 1949 by the Global News Syndicate, for his "continuous promotion of negro artists." Among the entertainers he had helped were such jazz
performers as Nat King Cole
, Sarah Vaughn, Charlie Parker
, and Billy Eckstine
. As his popularity grew, songs were written about him. For example, there was a reference to "the dial is all set right close to eighty" in the song Jumpin' With Symphony Sid, which was written by Lester Young
with lyrics by King Pleasure
; the song mentioned the location on the radio dial where Symphony Sid's Friday night show could be found. "Jumpin' With Symphony Sid" was also a 1950 hit for the George Shearing
Quintet. In addition, another song, "Symphony in Sid" by Illinois Jacquet
was written in tribute to him. Following are the complete King Pleasure lyrics to
"Jumpin' with Symphony Sid":
""Lacy" refers to popular deejay Jack Lacy, a rival broadcaster of Sid's, whose show was called "Listen to Lacy" and who played standards and rock 'n' roll (thus: 'Hey Sid, don't play pop tunes and make us think we're listening to Lacy!').
For a while during the mid to late 1940s, Sid broadcast live from the Royal Roost
night club in New York. In 1950, he moved the show to Birdland
. Sid also did some shows from other New York clubs such as the Three Deuces and Bop City. He also continued to work with concert promoters, serving as MC for a number of jazz concerts at venues like Carnegie Hall
.
It seems to have been an open secret that Sid was a regular user of marijuana. While the slang expression was "reefer," a home where marijuana was used and sold was known as "tea pad," and the police raided Sid's apartment in the summer of 1948, and arrested him. He remained on the air while the case was pending, and it finally came to trial in late January 1949. The case was declared a mistrial, but there was some residual damage to Sid's reputation. Some sources say he was fired from WJZ, while others indicate he continued to work as an MC in the clubs. But he evidently decided it was time for a change of scenery, and went with his friend Norman Furman to Boston
about 1952. Furman had become general manager of WBMS
, which had been doing classical music (the call letters reportedly stood for "World's Best Music Station"). He changed the format and hired Sid, who did a gospel
show and a jazz show. But Sid had a unique arrangement with Furman—he worked at WBMS in the daytime, and at night, he worked for WCOP, where he did live jazz shows, just like he had done in New York. During the mid 1950s, Sid could be heard live from the Hi-Hat, a night club owned by Julian Rhodes, in a part of Boston known for live jazz—the area near the intersection of Massachusetts and Columbus Avenues. During this period of time, his voice would be heard as the MC on a number of jazz recordings.
AM & FM. The station in the 1920s and 30s had been known for ethnic music (Yiddish, Italian, etc.) as well as for a very liberal
and pro-labor stance on politics
. (WEVD had been founded by socialist Eugene V. Debs.) Sid's show featured Latin Music (Salsa), for which, as Donald Fagen
recalled in a letter to Countermoon Zine, His choice of music proved controversial, and he was dubbed by some the "Jazz Traitor". On the other hand, some critics found his Latin music show both interesting and important, and praised the concept as "an extraordinary meeting of cultures." Then in the late 70's, encouraged by his engineer, Marty Wilson, Sid again started to play jazz in the last hour of his show. When he retired, he gave Wilson his record collection and the jazz show continued on the weekends. Throughout his time in New York, Sid also continued to be involved with promoting and serving as MC at jazz concerts.
Besides the aforementioned Marty Wilson, other NY jazz deejays contemporaneous with or following after the trail Sid blazed were: Al "Jazzbo" Collins (WNEW), Mort Fega (WEVD), Ed Beech (WRVR), Chris Borgen (WNCN), George Crater (WNCN) and Phil Schaap
(WKCR).
.
He retired to Islamorida in Florida
in the 1970s, where he enjoyed fishing
and had his own boat. He also did a full time airshift on a Miami Beach jazz radio station, WBUS. By all accounts, he was a heavy smoker, and he died of emphysema
and heart disease in mid-September 1984.
While modern media critics acknowledge his importance and praise him for introducing certain jazz artists to a national audience, surviving recordings where he was the announcer do not fare so well. Many modern critics have referred negatively to his on-air work. For example, his announcing at a 1945 Charlie Parker concert is called "annoying"; another critic who reviewed that same reissue calls Symphony Sid "odious" and says he "gives a painful imitation of a hipster." However, a few critics place Symphony Sid's style in the context of its time and understand that in his day, his style of announcing was popular.
Because of his importance in that pre-rock music era, the staff of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
in Cleveland has included him in a display about the most influential disc jockeys in history.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
disk jockey in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Many critics have credited him with introducing jazz to the mass audience.
Early life
Sidney Tarnopol was born in New York City. According to the 1920 U.S. Census, his parents were Isidore (a printer) and Caroline, both Yiddish-speaking immigrants; his father was from RussiaRussia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and his mother from Roumania. Sidney was the oldest of three siblings—he had a brother Martin and a sister Mildred. Born on New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's Lower East Side
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
, Sid grew up in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, in a poor neighborhood. Not much is known about his youth, although he seems to have become a jazz fan as a teenager, and at one point tried to become a trumpet player. (Passman, 67) One source says he started college and then dropped out as a result of the Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. By 1930, the census showed him working at a record store. He first got into radio in 1937, at a radio station in the Bronx, WBNX, where he began as an afternoon disc jockey, doing a show called the "Afternoon Swing Session." His show featured the biggest hits by black performers such as Count Basie
Count Basie
William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
, Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
and Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
. He became extremely popular with young people, many of whom would come to the station hoping to meet him or make a request. In an era when black music was still not frequently heard on the air, Symphony Sid was among the few white announcers who played what was then called "race" or "sepia" recordings on a regular basis. In addition to being an announcer—in 1937, the word "disc jockey" was not yet in common use—Sid sold airtime for his own program and produced the commercials for his sponsors.
Early radio career
The story of how he got the nickname "Symphony" Sid has been told in numerous ways. According to one source, it came from working at the Symphony record store where he introduced R&B records. The predominantly black customers told their friends that they bought the records from Symphony Sid. But another source says it came from a sponsor—a men's clothing store, and when announcer Walter Tolmes opened Sid's show, he rhymed "Here comes the kid with the fancy pants and the fancy lid... Symphony Sid." And yet another source says he got the name from playing "good music" (classical recordings) at his first radio job, before he became known for jazz. This source says the name came from his playing symphonic music every day. But however he got the nickname, he also did what was very common back then—he shortened his ethnic-sounding last name (Tarnopol) to one that was more generic—Torin. By 1941, Symphony Sid had left WBNX and was working at WHOM in Jersey City New JerseyNew Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
where he became identified with doing the late night shift. His show was called the "After-Hours Swing Session." At WHOM, he began to give up-and-coming black performers exposure. He also began to co-produce and promote jazz concerts, in association with Monte Kay
Monte Kay
Monte Kay, September 18, 1924 – May 25, 1988 was a prominent figure of the New York jazz scene in the late 1940s and 1950s, producing - often in association with the disc jockey Symphony Sid - several young musicians and acting as musical director of several night clubs...
. One of their first collaborations was in 1945 (some sources say 1942) at New York's Town Hall; it featured two up-and-coming talents, Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
and Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
. After WHOM, his career took him briefly to WWRL in New York and then to WMCA
WMCA
WMCA, 570 AM, is a radio station in New York City, most known for its "Good Guys" Top 40 era in the 1960s. It is currently owned by Salem Communications and plays a Christian radio format...
. By 1947, he was one of the most well-known jazz disc jockeys, and airplay on his show could give a major boost to any musician. Some grateful performers even wrote songs which they dedicated to him: for example, in 1947, Arnett Cobb recorded "Walkin' With Sid" for the Apollo record label. And also in 1947, Sid began to use a song by Erskine Hawkins
Erskine Hawkins
Erskine Ramsay Hawkins was an American trumpet player and big band leader from Birmingham, Alabama, dubbed "The 20th Century Gabriel". He is most remembered for composing the jazz standard "Tuxedo Junction" with saxophonist and arranger Bill Johnson...
, "After Hours," as the theme of his nightly program.
Sid left WMCA in early June 1949, but he didn't have to wait long for his next job. On 20 June 1949, he received his biggest opportunity: a network program on what was then called WJZ—later known as WABC
WABC (AM)
WABC , known as "NewsTalkRadio 77 WABC" is a radio station in New York City. Owned by the broadcasting division of Cumulus Media, the station broadcasts on a clear channel and is the flagship station of Cumulus Media Networks...
. Thanks to his work on the fledgling ABC Radio Network, he was heard in more than 30 states. (Barlow, 158) And as a result of his network show, jazz, especially the music of artists like Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
and Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
, gained wider exposure with a national audience. Later, critics would refer to him as "the dean of jazz radio."
Controversy and change
Although Sid was white, he was famous for his hipsterHipster (1940s subculture)
Hipster, as used in the 1940s, referred to aficionados of jazz, in particular bebop, which became popular in the early 1940s. The hipster adopted the lifestyle of the jazz musician, including some or all of the following: dress, slang, use of cannabis and other drugs, relaxed attitude, sarcastic...
lingo
Lingo
, Chris Hernandez is an American Christian rap artist, producer, and label owner-Early years:Lingo was born to Richard and Carmen Hernandez in Dallas, TX. Born into a faith based and God fearing family, Lingo knew the Lord at a young age...
, his love of be-bop, and his knowledge of the black music scene. While modern critics later accused white jazz disc jockeys like Symphony Sid and Alan Freed
Alan Freed
Albert James "Alan" Freed , also known as Moondog, was an American disc-jockey. He became internationally known for promoting the mix of blues, country and rhythm and blues music on the radio in the United States and Europe under the name of rock and roll...
of profiting from black radio and taking jobs away from black announcers (see for example Sinclair, 1989 for example), this did not seem to be a concern during the years when Sid broadcast. He won several awards from black organizations, including an award for Disc Jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
of the Year presented to him in 1949 by the Global News Syndicate, for his "continuous promotion of negro artists." Among the entertainers he had helped were such jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
performers as Nat King Cole
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
, Sarah Vaughn, Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
, and Billy Eckstine
Billy Eckstine
William Clarence Eckstine was an American singer of ballads and a bandleader of the swing era. Eckstine's smooth baritone and distinctive vibrato broke down barriers throughout the 1940s, first as leader of the original bop big-band, then as the first romantic black male in popular...
. As his popularity grew, songs were written about him. For example, there was a reference to "the dial is all set right close to eighty" in the song Jumpin' With Symphony Sid, which was written by Lester Young
Lester Young
Lester Willis Young , nicknamed "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and clarinetist. He also played trumpet, violin, and drums....
with lyrics by King Pleasure
King Pleasure
King Pleasure was a jazz vocalist and an early master of vocalese, where a singer sings words to a famous instrumental solo....
; the song mentioned the location on the radio dial where Symphony Sid's Friday night show could be found. "Jumpin' With Symphony Sid" was also a 1950 hit for the George Shearing
George Shearing
Sir George Shearing, OBE was an Anglo-American jazz pianist who for many years led a popular jazz group that recorded for MGM Records and Capitol Records. The composer of over 300 titles, he had multiple albums on the Billboard charts during the 1950s, 1960s, 1980s and 1990s...
Quintet. In addition, another song, "Symphony in Sid" by Illinois Jacquet
Illinois Jacquet
Jean-Baptiste Illinois Jacquet was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, best remembered for his solo on "Flying Home", critically recognized as the first R&B saxophone solo....
was written in tribute to him. Following are the complete King Pleasure lyrics to
"Jumpin' with Symphony Sid":
- "Jumpin' with my boy Sid in the city,
- Jumpin' with my boy Sid in the city,
- Mr. President of the DeeJay committee,
- We're gonna be up all night gettin' with it
- We want you to spin the sounds by the minute
- From down in the land that's really a-pretty.
- "Make everything go real crazy over 'JZ,
- Make everything go real crazy over 'JZ,
- Play anything cool for me and my baby,
- We don't want to think we're listening to Lacy,
- It's got to be Prez, Bird, Shearing or the Basie,
- The dial is all set right cloo-ose to 80,
- Let 'er roll."
- "JZ" refers to radio station WJZ.
""Lacy" refers to popular deejay Jack Lacy, a rival broadcaster of Sid's, whose show was called "Listen to Lacy" and who played standards and rock 'n' roll (thus: 'Hey Sid, don't play pop tunes and make us think we're listening to Lacy!').
- "80" most likely refers either to WJZ, broadcasting at 770 (close to 800), or possibly the call letters of another one of Sid's NY stations, "WADO radio, 1280 on your dial."
For a while during the mid to late 1940s, Sid broadcast live from the Royal Roost
Royal Roost
-History:Ralph Watkins originally opened the Royal Roost as a chicken restaurant. After a difficult start, Watkins was persuaded by Sid Torin to try presenting modern jazz at the club. Beginning in 1948 the club began to showcase the likes of Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Fats Navarro, Dexter...
night club in New York. In 1950, he moved the show to Birdland
Birdland (jazz club)
Birdland is a jazz club started in New York City on December 15, 1949. The original Birdland, which was located at 1678 Broadway, just north of West 52nd Street in Manhattan, was closed in 1965 due to increased rents, but it re-opened for one night in 1979...
. Sid also did some shows from other New York clubs such as the Three Deuces and Bop City. He also continued to work with concert promoters, serving as MC for a number of jazz concerts at venues like Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
.
It seems to have been an open secret that Sid was a regular user of marijuana. While the slang expression was "reefer," a home where marijuana was used and sold was known as "tea pad," and the police raided Sid's apartment in the summer of 1948, and arrested him. He remained on the air while the case was pending, and it finally came to trial in late January 1949. The case was declared a mistrial, but there was some residual damage to Sid's reputation. Some sources say he was fired from WJZ, while others indicate he continued to work as an MC in the clubs. But he evidently decided it was time for a change of scenery, and went with his friend Norman Furman to Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
about 1952. Furman had become general manager of WBMS
WILD (AM)
WILD 1090 AM is a radio station licensed to Boston, Massachusetts. It broadcasts on 1090 kHz and airs programming from China Radio International under a lease agreement...
, which had been doing classical music (the call letters reportedly stood for "World's Best Music Station"). He changed the format and hired Sid, who did a gospel
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
show and a jazz show. But Sid had a unique arrangement with Furman—he worked at WBMS in the daytime, and at night, he worked for WCOP, where he did live jazz shows, just like he had done in New York. During the mid 1950s, Sid could be heard live from the Hi-Hat, a night club owned by Julian Rhodes, in a part of Boston known for live jazz—the area near the intersection of Massachusetts and Columbus Avenues. During this period of time, his voice would be heard as the MC on a number of jazz recordings.
Back to New York
By 1957, Sid had left Boston and returned to New York, this time working on WEVDWEVD
The call letters WEVD are associated with the following:* WWRV AM 1330 in New York City, which held the WEVD call sign until 1981* WSKQ-FM 97.9 in New York City, which held the WEVD-FM call sign from 1952 to 1989...
AM & FM. The station in the 1920s and 30s had been known for ethnic music (Yiddish, Italian, etc.) as well as for a very liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
and pro-labor stance on politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
. (WEVD had been founded by socialist Eugene V. Debs.) Sid's show featured Latin Music (Salsa), for which, as Donald Fagen
Donald Fagen
Donald Jay Fagen is an American musician and songwriter, best known as the co-founder, lead singer, and the principal songwriter of the rock band Steely Dan ....
recalled in a letter to Countermoon Zine, His choice of music proved controversial, and he was dubbed by some the "Jazz Traitor". On the other hand, some critics found his Latin music show both interesting and important, and praised the concept as "an extraordinary meeting of cultures." Then in the late 70's, encouraged by his engineer, Marty Wilson, Sid again started to play jazz in the last hour of his show. When he retired, he gave Wilson his record collection and the jazz show continued on the weekends. Throughout his time in New York, Sid also continued to be involved with promoting and serving as MC at jazz concerts.
Besides the aforementioned Marty Wilson, other NY jazz deejays contemporaneous with or following after the trail Sid blazed were: Al "Jazzbo" Collins (WNEW), Mort Fega (WEVD), Ed Beech (WRVR), Chris Borgen (WNCN), George Crater (WNCN) and Phil Schaap
Phil Schaap
Phil Schaap is an American jazz disc jockey, historian, archivist and producer. He hosts a daily morning radio program on 89.9 FM New York, WKCR, the radio station of Columbia University, his alma mater, in New York City. The show, called Bird Flight, is broadcast from 8:20 am–9:30 am on weekdays...
(WKCR).
Final years
Sid Torin had three marriages, all of which ended in divorce (two of his wives were Eva Pena and Betty Ansley). He had two sons, one born in 1948 and the other in 1951: Stephen Torin [now Steve Jolis], an artist and Tour Manager with Tauck World Discovery and Marc Torin [now Marc Jolis], who teaches Culinary Arts in Atlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
.
He retired to Islamorida in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
in the 1970s, where he enjoyed fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
and had his own boat. He also did a full time airshift on a Miami Beach jazz radio station, WBUS. By all accounts, he was a heavy smoker, and he died of emphysema
Emphysema
Emphysema is a long-term, progressive disease of the lungs that primarily causes shortness of breath. In people with emphysema, the tissues necessary to support the physical shape and function of the lungs are destroyed. It is included in a group of diseases called chronic obstructive pulmonary...
and heart disease in mid-September 1984.
While modern media critics acknowledge his importance and praise him for introducing certain jazz artists to a national audience, surviving recordings where he was the announcer do not fare so well. Many modern critics have referred negatively to his on-air work. For example, his announcing at a 1945 Charlie Parker concert is called "annoying"; another critic who reviewed that same reissue calls Symphony Sid "odious" and says he "gives a painful imitation of a hipster." However, a few critics place Symphony Sid's style in the context of its time and understand that in his day, his style of announcing was popular.
Because of his importance in that pre-rock music era, the staff of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
in Cleveland has included him in a display about the most influential disc jockeys in history.
Quotes
- "He is probably the greatest middleman jazz has ever known. A broadcaster for 35 years, once billed as "the all-night, all-frantic one," he was the man to listen to in the forties, fifties and sixties if you wanted to know what was happening in jazz."-- Leslie Gourse, New York Times
- It was a frequent on-air description he made about himself: "This is your all-night, all-frantic one..."