[Dixielandjazz] Sacramento Musician RIP

[Robert S. Ringwald]

Erik Kleven, former bass and tuba player for the very popular Wooden Nickel 
Jass Band was killed in a car accident.  Details from the Sacramento Bee 
below.

http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/14278699p-15087506c.html

4 dead in head-on crash
Victims include Sacramento musician known for his generosity
By Mary Lynne Vellinga -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:01 am PDT Sunday, July 16, 2006
Story appeared in Metro section,
Page B1
 The front end of the 1964 Volvo driven by Erik Kleven, 56, was destroyed 
when Kleven
apparently swerved to avoid a 1997 Volvo that had drifted into the eastbound 
lane
of Highway 16, officials said. The three passengers in the 1997 Volvo also 
died.
Four people, one of them a well-known Sacramento musician, were killed 
Saturday afternoon
in a head-on collision on Highway 16 just east of Rancho Murieta.
Erik Kleven, 56, a bassist and tuba player who taught music for many years, 
was driving
his white 1964 Volvo east on Highway 16 just before 3 p.m. when he collided 
head-on
with a blue 1997 Volvo sedan traveling west, investigators said.
The accident occurred on a two-lane stretch of Highway 16 that divides the 
houses
and golf course of Rancho Murieta from the rolling, golden hills of the Van 
Vleck
Ranch to the south.
California Highway Patrol Sgt. Dan Snook said the blue Volvo apparently 
drifted into
the eastbound lane. Kleven tried to swerve out of the way, but the vehicles 
crashed
on the shoulder.
The 1997 Volvo burst into flames, igniting a 5-acre grass fire that took 30 
minutes
to suppress. The road remained closed into the evening. Snook said a fuel 
leak may
have caused the fire.
All three passengers in the 1997 Volvo were killed. The Sacramento County 
Coroner's
Office declined to identify them Saturday night pending notification of 
relatives.
The car is registered to an owner in San Rafael.
Two of the women were badly burned and died at the scene. Investigators said 
they
weren't sure whether the women died from the impact of the crash or from the 
fire.
A third woman was declared dead on arrival after being transported by 
helicopter
to Sutter Roseville Medical Center. A fourth woman, the driver, was taken by 
ambulance
to UC Davis Medical Center for treatment of minor injuries, Snook said.
A crowd of investigators from the CHP, Metro Fire and the Coroner's Office 
were called
to the crash. The road remained closed at the accident scene until well 
after 7 p.m.,
and the acrid smoke from the grass fire hung in the air.
Kleven's neighbors on Sloat Way, the Curtis Park street where he lived for 
much of