[Dixielandjazz] Erik Kleven Memorial

[Robert S. Ringwald]

There will be a memorial for Erik Kleven, former bass and tuba player for 
the Wooden Nickel Jass Band,  this coming Tues, Aug. 1, at 7:00 P.M., Sac 
City College Auditorium.  Several of the bands with whom Erik has played 
will be performing.  A CD with Erik playing various tunes with different 
bands will be available for sale.  The proceeds will go to a foundation (I'm 
not sure what the foundation is).

Erik Kleven
, former bass and tuba player for the 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
his life, said they were in shock after a representative from the Coroner's
Office
arrived to deliver the news. Kleven lived alone in a Craftsman bungalow with
a collection
of cats, basses and tubas. His ex-wife and teenage son live down the street,
said
Nick Willow, 35, a friend, neighbor and former student.
Willow, who delivered the news of Kleven's death to his wife and son, said
it was
"devastating."
"He's a pillar of the Sacramento music scene," Willow said. "If you're a
musician
in Sacramento, you've either taken lessons from the guy or you've seen him
in a band.
It's pretty devastating."
He called Kleven a "gentle soul" whose house was packed with books and who
freely
offered to let people borrow his instruments.
"He probably has a dozen or two-dozen instruments out there in Sacramento
right now,"
Willow said. "The words he used were 'the indefinite loan.' "


--Bob Ringwald K6YBV
--
Leader, The Fulton Street Jazz Band
916/806-9551
www.ringwald.com
www.fultonstreetjazz.com