I am deeply saddened to report the passing of Irving Stone on June 18, 2003. Stone, as he liked to be called, was one of the nicest members and biggest supporters of the long-time downtown scene/family. I met Irving & Stephanie Stone at Studio Henry in 1979, a small, rather funky basement space on the corner of Morton & Bleecker Sts. in the West Village. Fred Frith played one of his first gigs in NYC there with Eugene Chadbourne and this is where I first encountered John Zorn, Wayne Horvitz, Tom Cora, David Moss, Derek Bailey, Haino Keiji and many other members of the early downtown scene.

I was amazed to find this friendly couple (older than my parents) there for every gig, checking out and digging the strange sounds of this little known scene. We became close friends and they have remained as constant supporters of this music some twenty plus years later. Like myself, Stephanie & Irving are Zorn fanatics and live for those special moments when Zorn reaches deep and unleashes those tongue-slapping, multi-phonic screams and blasts. The Stones are the spiritual parents of this vast downtown family that used to hang at the Knit and now resides at Tonic. When the Stones were in the audience for a gig, you knew something special was about to happen.

There will be a memorial on July 5th at Tonic with speakers from 1-3 pm and music from 3pm to midnight. All proceeds will go into the Irving Stone Trust and the show will be recorded for a Tzadik release. The money will go into a yearly grant given by Stephanie Stone in Irving's memory. Irving Stone will be sadly missed

Bruce Gallanter, DownTown Music Gallery.

When I first weaned myself off a vinyl-only shortly after high school, I was disturbed to see the audience for live weird music, composed or improvised, was mostly 25 to 40 years old, with few to none my own age or much older. When I started to attend performances at Roulette on a regular basis, I always saw this interesting, older couple, clearly in love in that settled-in. Although it was over a decade before I actually talked to Stone and Stephanie (I was shy back then), they were my touchstone. If I saw them at a concert, that was a good sign. As I got more into the improv side of things, I saw them even more frequently at the Knit and other places, and started to feel at home with these irascible and loving supporters of the music. We often rode the D train home together. Stone was our mascot, and we missed him when he stopped coming out as frequently, and ever moreso now.

Steve Koenig, poet and journalist.

Irving had a lot of stories about Ornette and Monk. I remember he told me he saw Monk share the bill w/Steve Lacy and Roswell Rudd. Lacy/Rudd played only Monk tunes. Before Monk went on he said, "Now what am I supposed to play, their tunes?"

Rob Brown, saxophone.

Many times he and his wife would show up at our gigs on the east coast and I'd wonder how the hell did he know about this one! He was always a kind and supportive listener to our music and I will miss him.

Vinny Golia, reeds.

If the Stones were in the house you knew you were in the right place.
Loyal, dedicated and passionate supporters of the downtown scene. Irving
will be dearly missed.

Jim Eigo, promotor.

Lovely, lovely people. Stephanie & Stone made the scene here feel like family. They've been coming to my gigs since about as long as I can remember. I'll miss Stone, all gruff and lovable... gigs won't feel quite the same without him. He and Steph even came to our house to visit when our son Rami was born. He touched a lot of folks.

Ellery Eskelin, saxophone.

I am sad to hear about Irving Stone. He was a ubiquitous figure, along with his wife, when I first came to New York and began hanging out, and then playing, in the downtown jazz scene. He was a sweet, funny, genuinely interested man, who had a boundless capacity for listening, and a connoisseur's knowledge and appreciation of the New York Jazz scene. I can't say I knew him well, but I admired him greatly, and was happy to see him whenever our paths crossed, which for several years was often.

Aaron Alexander, drums.

Irving was music.... he loved all music... along with his wife, they were the couple who heard me the most... over the last 25 or thirty years... they came to hear every band I performed with... Irving loved the music
and i remember his smile

Oliver Lake, saxophone.

Stone once told me that he once asked Martin Williams why he never voted for one particularly important musician in the polls. Williams told him, '"I can't vote for him because he's a junky." Stone replied, "Are you a critic or a Narc, Martin."

John Szwed, journalist.

There are many memories of the Stones. I performed with Stephanie once at the 1999 Vision Festival with Steve Dalachinsky. To me, just to have their support was the most important thing to me. They enjoyed the performances with TEST and my music/dance performances with dancer Makiko Oka.

Sabir Mateen, musician.

Irving was a very good friend of many musicians and a wonderful human.
He and his wonderful lady made it to almost any concert, under any condition!
I as well as we will miss his greatly, but his Spirit will be with us all until we join him!

Shaku Joseph Jarman.

What a wonderful person Mr Stone was with a great sense of humor....a
loss to the community and his wife.

Blaise Siwula, saxophone.

I remember Stone as someone I used to see around the downtown scene for years, having no idea who he was. I just assumed he was hostile because I often found him staring at me at random gigs (Masada in ‘93(?), Sonny Rollins at Damrosch in '96 stick out) and I was usually bragging or ranting in my usual way to some hapless friend...and there would be Stone, staring at me like "what the fuck makes YOU so interesting?"

Well, one day a coupla years ago I found myself actually talking to first Irving, then Stephanie, and my instincts were a tiny but idiotic half-degree off. I told him "I always got the impression you were some cranky artsy type who didn't like how loud I am". "Oh, no, thats why I stare, you remind me of myself as a young man, I often found the arts scene disconcerting, snooty and weird. It's fun to watch the cycle repeat!" which was galling in a delightful way. I bust out laughing, suddenly pissed that my standard-grade persecution anxiety had kept me from enjoying the playful bile of this jovial bastard. In the last few years I've found various odd opportunities to chat with Irving and Stephanie, always stimulating and informative, never fluffy even when we kept it light. And always willing to speak lucidly and seriously about any topic, adjectives I'd like to be able to use to describe the Arts scene with more frequently! Stone made me feel normal and human in a scene that often felt highly insular and weird-for-its-own-sake, and was a fucking riot to boot. When I got to sing "Happy Birthday, Misssss-ter Presssi-deeehhhnt" in his ear some months back, he turned to me and dead-panned: "Norma, is that you at last?" and moments later asked me about details of my life that even I'd forgotten about!

I miss him already, and always will. I wish I'd spoken to him sooner, and more often. I cherish what interaction I had with him, cuz he was always a gorgeous ray of harsh, snowblinding sunshine. He nailed down the idea on the front billboard of my psyche: "Don't take too much of this shit too seriously, everyone's human here in some way!" he could say with a single eyebrow.