Insight

A series in which musicians give us insight into the background of one of their recordings

Dear Alex

Alex Riel and Stefan Pasborg

On the 9th June, 2024, the music world lost legendary drummer Alex Riel - an icon in Danish music history. That Autumn, Stefan Pasborg - one of Denmark's most recognised and versatile drummers found a handwritten list of Alex's favourite songs in the now departed drummer's handwriting. The sight of it touched Stefan profoundly, inspiring him to invite his trio, consisting of two other top Danish musicians, pianist Carsten Dahl and tenor saxophonist Fredrik Lundin, into the studio to record their versions of some of these songs. The goal was to capture the immediacy and spontinaity that always characterised Alex's energy. The result is the album Dear Alex.

Alex was Denmark's first call drummer for decades and left his mark on the music in an illustrious career spanning more than 70 years with his technique, energy, and unique musicality, playing with some of the world's greatest jazz musicians. Here he is playing Nardis in a video from Oslo in 1966 as the drummer for pianist Bill Evans' Trio and with Eddie Gomez on bass:

Stefan Pasborg is one of Denmark's top drummers and Alex Riel's godson. Alex was a steady and inspiring presence in Stefan's life for 50 years - with love, joy humour and music.

In 2016, Alex and Stefan played a concert in The Faroe Islands. A 15 minute documentary was filmed of the visit (here). The band were: Alex Riel (drums); Stefan Pasborg (drums); Annisette (vocals); Palle Mikkelborg (trumpet), Niclas Knudsen (guitar) and Jeppe Tuxen (hammond organ).

Stefan says: "Dear Alex - this album is from us to you. Alex was and will always be my mentor, my first and greatest drumming hero, and my best friend. He deserves all the praise in the world and then some. Both on the drums and offstage, he was the kind of guy you only meet once in a lifetime. Alex released his debut album in 1966 (Alex Riel Trio, Vibe Records). On it, he recorded an abstract unaccompanied solo improvisation entitled In A Way. I've selected five moments from that recording and integrated them into my own solo improvisation for him, which I call In Another Way. What you hear is actually Alex playing in those sequencies for a few seconds and me improvising around it. I love that some of the sounds he improvised almost 60 years ago are on this album."

"Dear Alex was recorded on the same drums Alex played on his debut release - his legendary Gretschen from the 1960s (in a hilarious moment many decades ago, he scratched 'en' on the Gretsch bass drum to give it a name). Thanks to Ane Riel for allowing me to borrow the kit for this session."

"And I must mention Alex's shed. He kept all his gear in a shed next to his house, accumulating quite a collectiion .... I spent countless hours there throughout my life .... After Alex passed away, we found the most beautiful old rusty bells in a cardboard box in the shed, which I'm happy to include on the album. Their presence speaks directly to the essence of our shared love for the endless timbres of metal and wood."

Here is the track Idaho from the album Dear Alex. Other tracks include Danny Boy; Somewhere Over The Rainbow; Smile; Moon River; Den Milde Dag Er Lys Og Lang; Moppin' and Boppin' and When You Wish Upon A Star .

The album Dear Alex is available on Stunt Records here.