Alex Riel

Alex Riel (13 September 1940 – 9 June 2024) was a Danish jazz and rock drummer. His first group Alex Riel/Palle Mikkelborg Quintet won the Montreux Grand Prix Award at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1968. He was married to the writer Ane Riel.

Biography
Riel recorded with, among others, Booker Ervin, Kenny Drew, Kenny Werner, Bob Brookmeyer, Thomas Clausen, Bill Evans, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Donald Byrd, Don Cherry, Thad Jones, and Ben Webster. He formed a jazz ensemble with bass player Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen. Riel was also a founding member in 1968 of the Danish rock group The Savage Rose. His album The Riel Deal won a Danish Grammy Award Jazz in 1996.

In September 2010, Riel's 70th birthday celebration at the Jazzhus Montmartre was broadcast live with the title Celebration of a Living Jazz Legend by the Danish national television station TV2.

Personal life and death
Riel married crime fiction author Ane Riel in 2002. They lived in Liseleje in North Zealand from 2005 until his death. He died at his home there on 9 June 2024, at the age of 83.

Awards

 * Danish Jazz Musician Award 1965 presented by Duke Ellington and Sam Woodyard (Photo)
 * Ben Webster 90 Years Honorary Prize 1999 (shared with Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen and Olivier Antunes)
 * Danish Grammy Award Jazz in 1996 for Riel's album The Riel Deal
 * Life Time Achievement Award from IFPI 2007 (Photo)

As leader

 * Alex Riel Trio with Kenny Drew, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (Fona, 1965)
 * Emergence with Jesper Lundgaard, Jerry Bergonzi (Red, 1994)
 * The Riel Deal with Kenny Werner, Jerry Bergonzi (Stunt, 1996)
 * Unriel with Jerry Bergonzi, Michael Brecker, Eddie Gómez, Mike Stern, Niels Lan Doky (Stunt, 1997)
 * DSB Kino with Harry Sweets Edison, Roger Kellaway (Stunt, 1998)
 * Rielatin with Jerry Bergonzi, Mike Stern, Kenny Werner (Stunt, 1999)
 * Celebration (Stunt, 2000)
 * Live at Jive Alex Riel/Luts Büchner Quartet (Stunt, 2001)
 * What Happened? Alex Riel Trio (Cowbell, 2004)
 * The High & The Mighty Alex Riel Trio (Cowbell, 2007)
 * Live at Stars Alex Riel Quartet feat. Charlie Mariano (Cowbell, 2008)
 * Riel Time Alex Riel Quartet (Cowbell, 2008)
 * Get Riel (Cowbell, 2008)

As sideman
With Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis
 * Swingin' Till the Girls Come Home (SteepleChase, 1976)

With Dexter Gordon
 * Cheese Cake (SteepleChase, 1964 [1979])
 * King Neptune (SteepleChase, 1964 [1979])
 * Love for Sale (SteepleChase, 1964 [1982])
 * It's You or No One (SteepleChase, 1964 [1983])
 * Billie's Bounce (SteepleChase, 1964 [1983])
 * Loose Walk (SteepleChase 1965 [2003])
 * Misty (SteepleChase, 1965 [2004])
 * Heartaches (SteepleChase, 1965 [2004])
 * Ladybird (SteepleChase, 1965 [2005])
 * More Than You Know (SteepleChase, 1975)
 * Swiss Nights Vol. 1 (SteepleChase, 1975 [1976])
 * Swiss Nights Vol. 2 (SteepleChase, 1975 [1978])
 * Swiss Nights Vol. 3 (SteepleChase, 1975 [1979])
 * Lullaby for a Monster (SteepleChase, 1976 [1981])

With Bob Brookmeyer
 * Holiday (Challenge, 1981)

With Ken McIntyre
 * Hindsight (SteepleChase, 1974)

With Jackie McLean
 * Live at Montmartre (SteepleChase, 1972)
 * Ode to Super (SteepleChase, 1973) with Gary Bartz
 * A Ghetto Lullaby (SteepleChase, 1974)
 * The Meeting (SteepleChase, 1974) with Dexter Gordon
 * The Source (SteepleChase, 1974) with Dexter Gordon

With Archie Shepp and Lars Gullin
 * The House I Live In (SteepleChase, 1963 [1980])

With Sahib Shihab
 * Sahib's Jazz Party (Debut, 1963)

With Thorgeir Stubø
 * Flight (Hot Club, 1985)

With Radka Toneff
 * Live in Hamburg (Odin, 1981)
 * Butterfly, track 4-6 (Curling Legs, 2008)

With Ben Webster
 * My Man: Live at Montmartre 1973 (SteepleChase, 1973)