Symphony Sid

Symphony Sid (left) with Josh White (right), WHOM Studio, New York, in the 1940s.
Photography by William P. Gottlieb .

Symphony Sid (* 14. December 1909 in New York City ; † 14. September 1984 ; and Sid Torin or Symphony Sid Torin , real name Sidney Tarnopol ) was an American jazz - DJ .

Life

Torin was born in New York's Lower East Side and grew up in Brooklyn. The nickname Symphony Sid refers to his work in a Symphony Records record store, where he introduced the first R&B records. The customers then told each other that they had bought the records from Symphony Sid. When he became a disc jockey at WBNX in the Bronx, the name was retained. He has worked for many broadcasters over the years, including WMCA and WJZ. He was known for his knowledge of jazz and had a loyal audience.

The hint "the dial set right there close to eighty on the dot" in the song Jumpin 'With Symphony Sid , written by Lester Young with lyrics by King Pleasure , is an indication of the position on the formerly usual radio scale where Symphony was played Sid's Friday night show. Torin broadcast live every Friday night in the late 1940s from clubs as famous as The Three Deuces, Royal Roost , Bop City and Birdland . His announcements are u. a. can be heard on the recordings of the first version of Birth of the Cool by Miles Davis, broadcast live by WMCA in 1948 .

However, he was released from WJZ after being proven that he was using drugs. After he hadn't found a job in New York for over a year, he took a position in Boston at WBMS, where, in addition to jazz, he also played R&B, later rock and roll, but also country music (at WCOP) and gospel.

Later back in New York, he played more Latin American music at WEVD AM&FM and was insulted as a “jazz traitor”. He bequeathed his record collection to his engineer, Marty Wilson, who took over the program and started playing jazz again.

He retired in Florida .

Web links

• Find-A-Grave biography