Irving Stone - R.I.P.

[Chris Castelle]

I can't believe I'm apparently the first on the board to report this, but the most recent news section of the Downtown Music Gallery site mentions the passing of Irving Stone, by all accounts a streadfast and much beloved supporter of the downtown scene. He and his wife Stephanie were fixtures at shows at the Knitting Factory and Tonic ever since I've been on the scene and, obviously, well before that.

I didn't know Stone at all and have no stories to share, but I'll miss him anyway.

[Pete C]

Originally posted by Chris Castelle
I can't believe I'm apparently the first on the board to report this, but the most recent news section of the Downtown Music Gallery site mentions the passing of Irving Stone, by all accounts a streadfast and much beloved supporter of the downtown scene. He and his wife Stephanie were fixtures at shows at the Knitting Factory and Tonic ever since I've been on the scene and, obviously, well before that.

I didn't know Stone at all and have no stories to share, but I'll miss him anyway.

I'm really sorry to hear that, and condolonces to Stephanie. I just saw them twice Memorial Day weekend, at the Muhal & Mephista shows.

[frankpop1]

ive read 'passions of the mind' and 'origin' on darwin. i also heard him discuss 'origin at a conference with both stephn j gould and e.o. wilson present. he mentioned 'passions of the mind'
as his most important work. he felt freud had made the most important discovery of the century, which was the discovery of the unconscious and learning to live with it.

[Pete C]

I'll assume you're mistaken & not joking.

Different Irving Stone.

[bluenoter]

From NYTimes.com > Obituaries June 21, 2003:

Irving Stone, Ardent Fan of the Downtown Music Scene, Dies at 80

By BEN RATLIFF

Irving Stone, a superpatron of the downtown jazz and new-music scene who made going to the Knitting Factory seem like visiting family, died on Wednesday at Maimonides Hospital in Brooklyn. He was 80.

The cause was complications of diabetes, said Stephanie Stone, his wife of 28 years and concertgoing partner.

A lifelong New Yorker with a sweet but sardonic sense of humor, Mr. Stone worked as a statistician for the New York City Housing Authority for 31 years. When he quit, on his 55th birthday, he and his wife started going out more than ever.

Their attention span and loyalty — to musicians like John Zorn, William Parker, Ornette Coleman, Roy Campbell, Mark Feldman, Tim Berne and many others — seemed nearly heroic. They first saw John Zorn play in 1976, at the Theater of Musical Optics on Lafayette Street, otherwise known as Mr. Zorn's apartment. "After that, they saw just about everything I did in New York," Mr. Zorn said. "They were the first people to care."

Ms. Stone, a nightclub singer and pianist on 52nd Street in the 1940's and 50's, said she and her husband had gone to the Knitting Factory four to six times a week from its opening in 1986 until about 1997. Later, they went much more to Tonic, the Lower East Side experimental-music space, and also kept up with Off Off Broadway theater and dance.

Mr. Stone's fascination with jazz began in the 1940's with Dixieland, when he was in the circle of friends and admirers of Bunk Johnson, the New Orleans trumpeter. But by the 1950's he became a hard-core modernist, seeing Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane repeatedly at the Five Spot, and becoming close to Mr. Coleman.

"We were always both interested in what was happening, and what was new," Ms. Stone said. "Anything that made your ears feel good, or made your head feel good."

In addition to his wife, of Brooklyn, Mr. Stone is survived by a stepdaughter, Julie Figueroa, and a step-grandson, Jesse Rosado, both of Port Charlotte, Fla.

[Frisco]

Irving and Stephanie have always made me feel most at home since I began visiting NYC regularly in the late 80's. Kind and super people, both of them. I was concerned over the past couple of years, not seeing as much of them as in the past. There are some fond memories of some great musical moments shared by many of us with Irving. And a very funny anecdote about smoking at the Knitting Factory, involving Mr. Zorn and Stone, during a Masada performance about five or six years back. I understand that there will be a memorial/benefit happening at Tonic on July 5.

[Chuck Nessa]

Irving sent me a postcard in '67 or '68 thanking me for the music I had issued. I still have it somewhere.

[Other Steve]

One of my all-time favorite Stone anecdotes: I'd just barely moved here in 1993 but quickly made the acquaintance of this pillar of the downtown community and his lovely wife, who did, as Ben Ratliff aptly put it, make you feel at home every time you saw them at a gig.

So I'm at Roulette, hearing Derek Bailey live for the very first time in the company of a number of prominent New York improvisers. I'm somewhere near the middle of the room; Stone is all the way on the back row. The performance is subdivided into smaller and larger ensembles. At one point, everyone in the group is playing en masse.

The music ebbs and flows, swoops and swirls, and eventually reaches a logical and satisfying conclusion, so Bailey stops playing. Paul Plimley stops. Mark Dresser stops. Tomas Ulrich, Randy McKean, everyone stops, except for one nameless offender who kept frittering away. He's fussing and fussing at one note in particular, occasionally bouncing to an adjacent note. This goes on for what feels like an eternity, though it's probably no more than 45 seconds. Everyone on stage is staring uncomfortably at the floor, or at the culprit.

"Stop, stupid!" Stone hisses under his breath from the back row. On the front row (naturally), Steve Dalachinsky turns around and grins; though soft-spoken, Stone's voice carried an undeniable weight and authority.

The culprit smiled sheepishly, and stopped.

God bless Irving Stone.

[Ellery Eskelin]

Lovely, lovely people the both of them. They really made the scene here feel like family. I will miss Stone (Irving), he was always direct and to the point (and with a lot of love). We were talking about the Stones recently on the road and Jim told me that Stone had told him "There's only two things ya gotta do in life and I've already done one of them". Well...it just won't be the same without him.

Here they are a few years ago visiting us when our son Rami was born...

[Ellery Eskelin]

and another...

[jazzy mary]

Nice pics, Ellery. Thanks for posting them. I saw them once at the Knit, but didn't really know who they were. Now, I wish I had known them.

[Frisco]

I should tell the anecdote that I found hilarious at the Knitting Factory some years ago. It was at the time that Masada were doing a lot of live performances there.

I understand that Irving and Zorn were good friends. Well, you know, people used to like to smoke a variety of things in the balcony. So, Masada hits the stage, and there is a sweet smell emanating from the balcony. Zorn says something like, You know there's no smoking at the Knitting Factory........"Stone". At which time Irving replies. "F**k you Zorn, just start playing".

[TomVarner]

Sad to see this. Stephanie and Irving were at SO many of my gigs, and at SO many of colleagues' gigs. Often 2 out of the 8 people there! They were the 'support forces' of art, and also , for many of us, a kind of hipster 'tart but sweet' favorite aunt and uncle. God bless you Irving. Hang in there and love to you, Stepanie--I'm sure we'll see you at future concerts. best tom varner

[Cem]

I met Irving in 1998 between sets outside Tonic. What a warm, funny man with a mischevious sparkle in his eye. He made me feel totally at home, while giving me pointers on NYC and discussing music. I hope we're all so full of piss and vinegar as we get up there. Later I realized who he and Stephanie were, while reading the liner notes to Zorn's Parachute Years box set. I can see why he will be missed.

[Lois Gilbert]

SATURDAY JULY 5TH
at TONIC
107 Norfolk Street
(Between Delancey & Rivington)
212-358-7501

1PM - 3 PM
Open Mike - Sharing Memories of Stone


3 PM - Midnight
Music performances by John Zorn, Marc Ribot, Susie Ibarra, Marty Ehrlich,
Charles Gayle, Chris Speed, Roy Cambell, Shelley Hirsch, Tim Berne, Angie
Sanchez, Tom Rainey & Tony Malaby, Sylvie Courvoisier, Ikue Mori, Steven
Bernstein, Butch Morris Oscar Noriega, Steve Dalachinsky and many others.


This show will be recorded for a double CD set on Tzadik. Money from the show
and from CD sales will go into an Irving Stone Trust. A grant will be set up
with money awarded yearly to selected musicians. Suggested Donation - $10

[Lois Gilbert]

I wonder if any of you attended the memorial

[Chris Castelle]

I was there from 3 to 11, when things ended slightly ahead of schedule. I spotted Steve Smith there as well.

I'll give a detailed report once I've recovered.

[Other Steve]

Sorry I didn't see you, Chris. It was definitely a love-fest of monumental proportions. I hung with folks I hadn't seen in years, including Kevin Whitehead -- who, incidentally, told a story nearly identical to the one I told above, except his was about an Evan Parker gig at Greenwich House; same party provoked Stone that night, too. And I met Lesli Dalaba, who prior to last night was just a name and a sound to me.

I plan to stick something in the Live Music Reviews thread shortly.

One preview, though: according to Annie Gosfield's mother, an old friend of Stone's from waaaayy back, "Stone taught Harry Partch how to balance a checkbook. Stone could sing Gilbert and Sullivan operettas in the voice of Louis Armstrong."

[Other Steve]

The unbelievably long review is now posted.