Sid Weiss; Played Bass for Prominent Big Bands

Sid Weiss, 79, bassist with most of the prominent big bands of the 1930s and ‘40s and a fixture in Los Angeles recording studios. Weiss, a native of Schenectady, N.Y., studied the bass there and later with the principal bassist of the Washington, D.C., Symphony. He joined Louie Prima’s band in the early 1930s and during the next 20 years toured and recorded with Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Jerry Wald, Charlie Barnett and others. During World War II, Weiss performed with USO tours across the country. Most recently he had served as a deputy state labor commissioner, a field he became involved in through the American Federation of Musicians. In Colton on March 29 of the complications of heart surgery.