Lee Sims

Lee Sims was born April 30, 1898 in Champaign, Illinois. Cedar Rapids, Iowa was his hometown while growing up. At the age of 8, he played ragtime and waltzes for a YMCA. By age 11, he was accompanying church singers and playing the theatre pipe organ for silent movies. At 14, he played at the Majestic Theater in LaSalle, Illinois. While still in his teens, he went to work for a pipe organ manufacturer, demonstrating instruments all over the country. At age 22, Sims decided to settle down in Chicago. He began making piano rolls for the United States Piano Roll Company and other piano roll companies. He became studio manager for WTAS, one of the first radio stations in the Middle West. Later, he was studio manager of KYW, the Westinghouse station in Chicago, and WBBM, then the Stewart-Warner “theatre of the air.” He married Ilomay Bailey, a vocalist with the Paul Ash and Ben Pollack orchestras. In the 1930s, Lee and Ilomay appeared as stars of the Chase and Sanborn Hour night program for the National Broadcasting Company. Other radio appearances included Rudy Vallee's program and the Ben Bernie and Phil Baker shows. During the 1920s and 1930s, Sims recorded approximately 60 sides for Brunswick. Sims's style, though somewhat outside of the realm of jazz, as it is typically considered today, was well within it in the era of his prominence. Nevertheless, Sims influenced at least one notable jazz figure: Art Tatum listened to Sims' radio broadcasts, and acknowledged Sims as an important influence on his musical development.