Alex Riel was born September 1940 in Copenhagen, Denmark, and has since the sixties remained firmly established as one of the most significant and influential jazz drummers in Europe.

His career began in the mid-sixties when he was the house drummer at the legendary jazz club "Montmartre" in Copenhagen. With bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen and pianist Tete Montoliu or Kenny Drew he accompanied musicians such as Ben Webster, Dexter Gordon, Kenny Dorham, Johnny Griffin, Don Byas, Donald Byrd, Brew Moore and Yusef Lateef.

Over the years Alex Riel has played and recorded with an impressive number of fine jazz musicians representing both the traditional and the modern way. His very first impression of jazz drumming was that of Big Sid Catlett and Zutty Zingleton and this early influence is still perceptible in his playing. So is the influence of Danish drummer William Schiöpffe, who played a central role on the European jazz scene of the sixties.

However Riel’s appearance with musicians such as Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard, Jackie McLean, Archie Shepp, Dizzy Gillespie, Michel Petrucciani, Gary Burton, John Scofield and David Sanborn has made him widely known as an outstanding modern drummer taking up the styles of Elvin Jones, Roy Haynes and Tony Williams. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.