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 release 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 appreciated. 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. References External links 1909 births 1984 deaths American radio DJs American people of Russian-Jewish descent American people of Romanian-Jewish descent Musicians from New York City Jazz radio presenters 20th-century American musicians