scena nowojorska

[tyszkens]

We are saddened to report the passing of Stephanie Stone earlier

today. Mrs. Stone had recently turned 93 and had been struggling with

cancer over the past few years. I recall meeting Stephanie and Irving

Stone in 1979 (some 35 years ago!) at a small performance place

called Studio Henry on the corner of Morton & Bleecker Sts. in the

West Village. After seeing Fred Frith and Eugene Chadbourne play a

duo set at that space in '79, I began attending sets there regularly.

Studio Henry or One Morton (as it was also called) was a very funky

basement space run by musicians, often poorly attended and way below

the radar. This is where I first caught John Zorn, Dr. Chadbourne,

Wayne Horvitz, Robin Holcomb, Elliott Sharp, Ned Rothenberg, Tom

Cora, David Moss and Polly Bradfield. The first few times I caught

Mr. Zorn play there, he played just mouthpieces, birdcalls and a cup

of water, not even assembling his sax!?! Mr. Chadbourne was equally

ridiculous, using balloons and odd objects to play his guitar in the

most unorthodox ways. Being a jazz and prog snob, I wasn't even sure

they could really play! I noticed an older couple, perhaps my parents

age but actually ten years their senior, attending every gig there. I

asked what they were doing there since I was still not taking Zorn

and Chadbourne seriously as of yet. This couple were the Stones. They

told me that they loved the music of these early Downtown pioneers

ever since checking them out opening for David Murray a few years

earlier. I was flabbergasted by their response. As I too became a fan

of the early Downtown scene, I became friends with Stephanie and

Irving, who became the godparents of that scene. We attended hundreds

of gigs throughout the years and they befriended and encouraged many

of those musicians. Word is that if the Stones were at your gig, you

must being doing something right. Manny used to keep two special

chairs for the Stones at his old store Lunch for Yor Ears, just in

case they showed up for any of his weekly performances and needed a

place to sit rather than on the floor.

 

I recall many nights at the old Knitting Factory in the

mid-to-late eighties, checking out musicians like Charles Gayle or

Louie Belogenis. The only folks in the audience each and every week

were the Stones, Yuko & Steve Dalachinsky and myself. I later found

out that Stephanie Stone was a fine jazz pianist and vocalist who

played in clubs during the bebop era. She met Stone just a few years

before I met them in 1979, after raising a daughter and they soon got

married. Stone passed away in June of 2003 and there was a lovely

memorial for him at Tonic. Stephanie, who had continued to play piano

throughout the years at home, and then started to play live again on

special occasion. I caught a handful of her gigs over the past decade

and was charmed by her piano playing and singing. She often

complained about having to struggle to play but she sure sounded

wonderful to me and the rest of her audience every time. Her duo with

Dave Sewelson had played gigs in the past few years. Just two months

ago, she attended the funeral of Downtown trumpet great Roy Campbell

and then went to his memorial concert at Roulette while she was

confined to a wheelchair and using an oxygen tank to breathe. Her

performance that night was stunning and touched everone in

attendance. You can check it out on youtube.

 

The Stone is a performance space run by John Zorn, one of the few

remaining places where music that falls between the cracks can still

thrive. It is named after Irving Stone and you can see a picture of

Stephanie on the top row of musicians who have curated there. As I

sit here and think about the many gigs we have attended for more han

three decades, I raise a toast to Stephanie Stone and smile. For as

many birthdays as I can remember, Ms. Stone called me and most likely

many of Downtown's finest musicians and sang Happy Birthday to many

of lucky folks who knew her so well. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Manny

'Lunch' Maris and Chuck Bettis of DMG