In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

248 Sirone As an adventurous bass player grounded in rhythm and blues, Sirone (Norris Jones) was a highly versatile force in the new music even before he settled in New York. In 1966–67, he appeared on four ESP recordings as a sideman: on second dates by Marion Brown and Noah Howard, and then on Marzette Watts and Gato Barbieri’s first dates as leaders. Later, in 1972, as a member of the newly formed Revolutionary Ensemble, the collective trio released their first album, Vietnam, on ESP, recorded in concert in March of that year. After several more albums (including one on the A&M label), the group disbanded in 1977 but reunited for one last record in 2004. Over the years Sirone played with many of the leading figures in the music and occasionally led or co-led his own groups. In 1989 he moved to Berlin, Germany, where he died in October 2009, a few months after this interview. What brought you to New York when you came in 1965? When I arrived in New York, it was on an invitation to do a concert with Marion Brown. At that particular time, it was a theater on Second Avenue called the Village Theater, which was very productive for the music. There was a series of concerts, and it was q uite an honor because all t he main people were doing these concerts—Trane, Albert, Ornette. During that period, it was a r elationship of a family that was happening with the music, in the sense that it wasn’t so divided as we have today, that it’s grown into, in other words, focused on individuals . You had individuals, but you had the essence of the music—which is, as far as I’m concerned, coming from a group. We had a collective power, and the industry had to deal with the musicians. Was that your first time working in New York? No, I had b een to New York many other times because of my musical experiences . In ’57 I was working with Sam Cooke, Jerry Butler—these guys were very much in tune, especially Sam, with what was going on. They knew I was hearing other things, but they needed a bass p layer. Believe it or not, during that time with them I played contrabass, the upright. So, I had the typical touring thing, Sirone 24 9 the circuit that those groups went through. Jerry was coming out of Chicago, so it was interesting to see the Chicago scene at that time, because Chicago had another musical thing happening. The musicians who were going in the direction of jazz were not so focused on the format of piano, bass, drums, and saxophone , and trumpet. They were omitting the piano. This is where I met Rafael Garrett, and we hung out. But in ’65, co ming to New York, on this series of concerts at the Village Theater, it was very impressive to see how the energy of the music was going to the public. People were diving for tickets—we’re talking about a theater that had seating capacity for at least 2,000 to 2,500 people. Later, it went in the direction of pop music. [Previously a movie house and Yiddish theater near East 6th Street, in 1968 the Village Theater became the Fillmore East.] What was your connection to Marion Brown originally? That went back a long time; we had a group in Atlanta. Music was very strong in Atlanta. We had a sextet with George Adams, Willie Wilson, and Percy Connolly , and we used to be the opening act for the groups that would come from New York. We were teenagers, and we would be burning, so the cats might have thought they would come to Atlanta and have an easy day, but that was not true. We would leave the stage on fire. And they would say, like, “Damn, what are you all doing here? You should come to New York.” And the most wonderful thing happened—we didn’t go to New York as a group, which was unfortunate—but we finally came together in New York as a group and were able to do some performances at the Village Gate. During the years you recorded as a sideman for ESP, were you dealing with the label yourself? Being fresh in New York, I was using it as an experience of just seeing how the guys were dealing and how...

Share