Leroy Jenkins, RIP

I am deeply saddened to learn of the passing of the great jazz violinist Leroy Jenkins. Jenkins really stretched the limits of jazz, creating all sorts of interesting compositions that brought the genre closer to modernist classical music. Jenkins worked with many of the leading lights of modern creative jazz, including the pianist Myra Melford, saxophonist Joseph Jarman, and trumpetist Leo Smith. I have two Jenkins albums, "Space Minds, New Worlds, Survival of America," from 1978 and Leroy Jenkins Live, which is not in print but is from the early 1990s. Both show Jenkins mastering his instrument and taking jazz in new directions. Young jazz players should follow the lead of artists like Jenkins and ignore the reactionary tendencies of Wynton Marsalis.

Leroy Jenkins will truly be missed.