Danish drummer and band leader  Although Alex Riel has been around for quite a few years, you wouldn't realise it if you didn't know it. He's still very much the happy kid of Danish jazz – and international jazz, for that matter. Alex Riel first became active on the jazz scene in the 1950s, but had to finish his apprenticeship as a ladies' hairdresser before becoming house drummer at the Montmartre club in Store Regnegade in 1963, thereby making music his full-time career. In 1965 he was declared Danish Jazz Musician of the Year, which led to a trio recording in his own name and classes with Alan Dawson at the Berklee School of Music in Boston. Together with Palle Mikkelborg, he formed a quintet which performed with great success in 1968 at the Newport Jazz Festival in the USA. He then created the group Savage Rose together with the brothers Anders and Thomas Koppel, and performed with them until 1971. Since then, Alex Riel has been an omnipresent musician on the Danish and European scenes within most rhythmic genres. For several decades he was a permanent accompanist to the singer Sebastian, in the 1980s he created the fusion group Six Winds, and in the 1990s he released a number of CDs in his own name, in the company of prominent international musicians. As a jazz drummer, Alex Riel is masterly, lively, always inspired and always inspirational, and has received both the Palæ Bar and the Ben Webster jazz prizes. His 60th birthday was celebrated with a whole series of concerts at Copenhagen Jazz House. By Kjeld Frandsen Published 2005 This article is provided in cooperation with DR - www.dr.dk/musik/  Læs profilen på dansk på DR's musikside

Alex Riel was born 13 September 1940, Copenhagen More information and discography at alexriel.dk