Leif Reck: Leif Reck, who has died aged 80, was for many years this country's best-known jazz violinist. Born in Copenhagen, he came to Ireland in 1952, where he married an Irishwoman, settled into the way of life here and soon became part of the cultural furniture on the local jazz scene.
Although the violin is hardly a prominent instrument within the jazz world, there were some illustrious precedents for his, as the jazz argot puts it, "weapon of choice".
In America there were people like Joe Venuti from the 1920s, along with the swing era's Eddie South and Stuff Smith, for whom the violin was the primary instrument. Europe could boast of France's Stéphane Grappelli and Michel Warlop from pre-war times, and such post-war names as Reck's fellow Dane, Svend Asmussen and, later still, Jean-Luc Ponty.
Of these, Grappelli and Asmussen were the main influences on Reck, who began on the violin at six and was classically trained until he heard Grappelli, probably in the context of the famous Quintette du Hot Club de France, the hugely popular group Grappelli co-led with the great Belgian guitarist Django Reinhardt. Grappelli and Reck remained friends until the French violinist died in 1997.
Reck formed his first group at 17 in Denmark. In Ireland, he performed all over the country, including at the Guinness Jazz Festival in Cork, and made appearances on the Late Late Show, in addition to broadcasting on radio for RTÉ.
He also performed at Ronnie Scott's famous jazz club in London, and played throughout continental Europe, including Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. In the US he made regular winter appearances in Florida with his group The Jazz Survivors. He was a great admirer of the music of Duke Ellington, George Shearing, Benny Goodman and Oscar Peterson. Among vocalists a particular favourite was Nat King Cole, who was once among the greatest pianists in jazz until he forged a career as a singer.
Leif Reck: born 1924; died September 25th, 2004