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Rifftides

Doug Ramsey on Jazz and other matters...

Archives for July 8, 2010

Other Places: Svend Asmussen

Asmussen playing.jpgJazz developed in the United States, but it has long been an international music and many of its most prominent players are from other countries. The Dane Svend Asmussen is coming in for even more attention than usual lately. Attention is far from new in the career of the remarkable violinist, but when a musician is halfway through his tenth decade and still swinging, he gets extra notice. One who notices is Will Friedwald. He writes about Asmussen in today’s Wall Street Journal. Here’s the first paragraph.

“How are you doing?” That’s normally an innocuous question, except when you happen to be asking a 94-year-old violinist who is probably the oldest currently active major jazz musician in the world. “I do very well,” answers Svend Asmussen, speaking by phone from his home in a Danish fishing village outside of Copenhagen, “considering my extremely advanced age.”

To read the whole thing, go here. For a Rifftides review of two Asmussen albums, go here.

Correspondence: The RSS Factor

Regarding the “Where We Are” item below, Rifftides reader Cyril Moshkow writes

Looks like the info is not exactly complete, as many people read
ru-t.jpgthrough RSS aggregation (which does not include logging in.) For
instance, I am reading Rifftides in Moscow, Russia, but almost never
directly — it is aggregated in my blogroll.

That’s a good point, Cyril. Unfortunately the site meter doesn’t calculate RSS deliveries, so we cannot know how many people sign on by that means.
Be sure to visit Mr. Moshkow’s excellent site, Russian Jazz—DR

Where We Are

Rifftides readers are all over the world, more concentrated in some countries than others. We don’t hear much from Cuba or Outer Mongolia, for instance. Here is a list of nations where readers have logged on to Rifftides in the past week.
Australia
Thumbnail image for as-t.jpg
Brazilbr-t.jpg
Canadaca-t.jpg
Chinach-t.jpg
Czech Republicez-t.jpg
Francefr-t.jpg
Germanyde-t.jpg
Ghanagh-t.jpg
Icelandic-t.jpg
Israelis-t.jpg
Japanja-t.jpg
Netherlandsnl-t.jpg
New Zealandnz-t.jpg
Portugalpo-t.jpg
United Kingdonuk-t.jpg
United Statesus-t.jpg
By most accounts, there are 195 countries on earth. Sixteen are represented in that list. The Rifftides staff hopes that people in the remaining 179 will join us. Wherever you are, we’re glad to have you along. If you find something here that interests or stimulates you, please send your comments.

Doug Ramsey

Doug is a recipient of the lifetime achievement award of the Jazz Journalists Association. He lives in the Pacific Northwest, where he settled following a career in print and broadcast journalism in cities including New York, New Orleans, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, San Antonio, … [MORE]

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