Nordic jazz vocalist/saxophonist Mads Mathias has written this personal tribute to drummer Alex Riel, an important figure in the history of Danish jazz, who has died aged 83.
Alex Riel was supposed to become a hairdresser like his father and grandfather before him, but he replaced the scissors with sticks and became one of Europe’s most recognized and influential jazz drummers.
For the very young Riel, there was only one rule: you did as you were told. That’s how it was back then. So when his father said he was going to be a hairdresser, the course was set. “But,” he said, “if you can prove that you’re a bigger drummer than a hairdresser, then you’ll be allowed to be a drummer.”
In the mid 60s, Riel began his career as a house drummer in Copenhagen’s legendary jazz club Montmartre, and together with bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen and pianist Kenny Drew, accompanied such prominent artists as Ben Webster, Dexter Gordon, Donald Byrd and Yusef Lateef, just to name a few.
This led to touring with the Bill Evans Trio, one of his greatest highlights, as Bill was seen as the greatest piano player at the time.
Alex was curious and playful by nature, and wasn’t tied by genres and rules. When things got stagnant he looked other places. In the late 60s, he got tired of the jazz police and got together with some friends to start one of the greatest rock bands in Denmark: The Savage Rose.
Alex was a talented and accomplished drummer, but he was more than that. He played and mastered so many kinds of music through his career, becoming more of a story-teller. He trusted his intuition, on which he relied to always be creative and often magical.
When I think of the concerts where I had the honour of playing with Alex, he would rarely be totally sure of what was going to happen. When we were about to start and count in the tune, the look on his face would be like, “what are we playing?”. Maybe it was because his memory wasn’t fantastic, or because he thrived on the unknown – probably a little of both! I think it was actually a gift that constantly let him be intuitive, playful and creative in that moment, because as he used to say: “It’s like hearing the music for the very first time, every time.”
Alex was the warmest, most giving person, and always had a smile on his face. To him there was not jazz, rock, or avant-garde – just music.
Unlike many of his colleagues at the time, he took pretty good care of himself, didn’t do drugs or drink much, and this combined with his love for music is what helped him live so long and stay active until the end. He played his last concert in December, and died after a short period of incurable illness last Sunday, 9 June, at age 83.
Since his breakthrough in 2012, leading Nordic jazz vocalist/saxophonist Mads Mathias has received numerous awards and toured clubs and festivals across Europe and Asia, performing at concert halls such as the Royal Albert Hall and the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing. He has also frequently fronted the Danish Radio Big Band. Already a star in his native Denmark, Mads Mathias is a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who has captured the hearts of music lovers with his charismatic performances, spirited personality and creative original songs. His latest album is “I’m All Ears” (Storyville, 2021).
