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<DIV>Svend Asmussen, an Early Master of Jazz Violin, Dies at 100</DIV>
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<DIV>by Peter Keepnews</DIV>
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<DIV>New York Times, February 10, 2017</DIV>
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<DIV>Svend Asmussen, a Danish jazz violinist whose collaborators over more than
70 years included Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, the Indian violinist L.
Subramaniam and the bluegrass mandolinist David Grisman, died on Feb. 7. He was
100.</DIV>
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<DIV>Mr. Asmussen’s son Claus confirmed the death to The Associated Press. He
did not say where his father died.</DIV>
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<DIV>Mr. Asmussen was one of the first world-class jazz musicians from
Scandinavia and one of the first jazz violinists of note. The jazz writer Doug
Ramsey placed him among “the handful (or fewer) of violinists who in the 1930s
proved their instrument capable of swing and emotional expression at the highest
jazz level.”</DIV>
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<DIV>Inspired by recordings of the American violinists Joe Venuti and Stuff
Smith, Mr. Asmussen began leading a small group in Copenhagen in the mid-1930s.
By the end of the decade his group was regularly opening for, and impressing,
visiting American musicians like Fats Waller.</DIV>
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<DIV>An ebullient performer, Mr. Asmussen was known for his onstage singing and
clowning as well as his playing. He rarely performed outside Europe, but he did
tour the United States in the late 1950s and early ’60s with the Swe-Danes, a
vocal and instrumental trio with the Swedish vocalist Alice Babs and the Danish
guitarist Ulrik Neumann.</DIV>
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<DIV>Among his more celebrated recordings were two albums made in the 1960s that
teamed him with other great jazz violinists: “Duke Ellington’s Jazz Violin
Session,” with Stephane Grappelli and Ray Nance, and “The Violin Summit,” with
Grappelli, Smith and Jean-Luc Ponty. He also recorded with the pianist John
Lewis and the vibraphonist Lionel Hampton, as well as with Mr. Subramaniam, on
the 1978 album “Garland,” and Mr. Grisman, on the 1987 album “Svingin’ With
Svend.”</DIV>
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<DIV>He continued performing and recording well into the 21st century.</DIV>
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<DIV>Sven Harald Christian Asmussen was born in Copenhagen on Feb. 28, 1916, and
began taking piano lessons at 5 before switching to violin. He attended dental
school but, he said in a 1955 interview, did not have “the least interest in
dentistry” and was playing music professionally before he was out of his
teens.</DIV>
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<DIV> Survivors include his wife, Ellen Bick Meier, and three children
from his marriage to Annegrethe Thomassen, who died in 2000. 30</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000"><BR><BR>Bob
Ringwald piano, Solo, Duo, Trio, Quartet, Quintet <BR>Fulton Street Jazz Band
(Dixieland/Swing)<BR>916/ 806-9551<BR>Amateur (ham) Radio Station
K6YBV<BR><BR>"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short
phrases:<BR>If it moves, tax it.<BR>If it keeps moving, regulate it.<BR>And if
it stops moving, subsidize it."<BR>- Ronald Reagan
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