Born on this day was the great improvising bassist Sirone, who brought a highly intuitive, yet bluesy improvisational presence to the scene and contributing to several genre-defining classics of the '60s & '70s, not the least of which was his work with the collective Revolutionary Ensemble.
From Atlanta, the former Norris Jones took up the trombone as a kid before moving to bass at 17. He started playing locally in the late '50s in a group with saxophonist George Adams. He was a sideman at sessions for Sam Cooke, Smokey Robinson and other R&B artists.
In '65 he moved to NYC and started immediately working with Dave Burrell. The late '60s found him playing with many of the most exciting artists in NYC--Sunny Murray, Albert Ayler, Archie Shepp, Sun Ra, Jackie McLean, Gato Barbieri, Marion Brown, Pharoah Sanders, Noah Howard. He was on Sonny Sharrock's raging Black Woman.
In '71 he started the awesome Revolutionary Ensemble, a violin/bass/percussion trio that combined free-jazz, avant-classical and various folk themes. The group lasted for much of the '70s and returned in 2004. The '70s also found him working with Andrew Cyrille, Jazz Composers Orchestra, Clifford Thornton, Roswell Rudd, Dewey Redman's great Impulse! albums and the AWESOME Cecil Taylor Unit.
Living in Berlin starting in the late '70s, he retained a presence in NYC and continued working non-stop, putting in time with folks like Billy Bang, Walt Dickerson, Charles Gayle, Ben Abarbanel-Wolff, Zusaan Kali-Fasteau, William Parker, Oluyemi Thomas and the underrated group Phalanx (with James "Blood" Ulmer, Rashied Ali and Adams). He also collaborated with theater ensembles and was a Buddhist.