BiL violinist David Stenshoel passed away September 16th, 2021, surrounded by his loved ones, listening to live Swedish fiddle music. Music to the end, as he wanted. One month later, we gathered to remember him with music.

• Remastered and edited livestream
  1. Kari Tauring
  2. Daddy Squeeze And Friends
  3. Todd Harper
  4. Robayat
  5. Arabic Music Ensemble
  6. Natalie Nowytski
  7. Boiled In Lead
• Original concert livestream
• The Oud and Hospice Sessions
• David’s YouTube Playlist
• Wikipedia Entry
• Make a donation to the family

This short piece played before the livestream.

World Jam Top 20

After live music shut down in March 2020, David was among the first Americans on the WorldJam.  He quickly mastered high latency situations, performing 56 pieces in an “omniversally” wide range of styles. BiL bass player Drew Miller often collaborated with him on music raging from the “Flintstones Kopanitsa” to the Velvet Underground, as well as BiL’s version of “Stop! Stop! Stop!” by The Hollies. This memorial show is his “Top 20” selection, with tributes from members of the WorldJam community.

From his brother Eric Stenshoel:

My older brother David passed away at the age of 71 after a three-month battle with squamous cell carcinoma of gingiva. David was passionately creative in both the visual arts and music. He began playing the violin at age ten and found his calling as a professional musician in his 20s, playing violin, tenor saxophone electric mandolin and gaida with a wide variety of bands, including Infinity Art Unit, Radio Rangers, Jan Reimer Band, Boiled in Lead, You, Me and Betsy, Electric Arab Orchestra, Ethnic Dance Theater, Voices of Sepharad, Yiddishe Folksmenschn, the American Swedish Institute Spelmanslag, Automatix, Shalita, Robayat, Honeysuckle Rose, Intuitive Bikers, Felonious Bosch, Vernon Dixon, Katy and the T-Bergs, and Dusty Drapes and the Dusters. He always shared the musical diversity of his own life with other musicians, introducing them to new styles and genres. In June, 2021, after an operation for oral cancer left him unable to play the violin or saxophone, he taught himself to play the oud and invited fellow musicians to jam with him in his home hospice, continuing the practice of musical cross-pollination that marked his career. My husband and I have been privileged to share the last two months with David and his wife Anne as dozens of musicians accepted their invitation and filled the house with music of many genres, from hot club jazz to western swing to folk music from around the globe. On his final day, we heard Indian and Chinese songs, Chinese lion drumming, mandolin and drums, and Swedish fiddle music up until the moment of his death.