Georg Riedel
Born in Karlovy Vary, Czechoslovakia, Swedish double bassist and composer Georg Riedel made a name for himself in jazz and film music. Named Jiří at birth, he was just four years old when his Jewish parents fled the country for Stockholm, Sweden, where George Riedel grew up. Trained in classical music by his amateur cellist father, he successively played violin, cello and double bass at the conservatory and won an amateur jazz competition. Joining Lasse Bagge's quintet in 1951, Georg Riedel formed his own quartet two years later, accompanying Lars Gullin and then Arne Domnérus. He also made a name for himself as an arranger, notably for singer Monica Zetterlund. In 1961, Georg Riedel earned his stripes as a composer with Jazz Ballet, a show in which jazz rhythms crossed paths with the harmonies of a classical orchestra, staged by choreographer Lia Schubert, which gave rise to an album released in 1964. That same year saw the release of his collaboration with Jan Johansson, Jazz på Svenska, an album inspired by local musical folklore that proved to be Sweden's best-selling jazz album. After two more joint ventures - Rörelser (1964) and Mobil (1965) - Georg Riedel continued in this vein with Adventures in Jazz and Folklore (1966) and compositions for the stage, before turning to other musical forms. Released in 1967, the album Reidalgia was the result of a special television recording of a jazz big band he conducted in association with Eric Ericson's chamber choir. After a detour of several albums into a pop and melodic version of jazz, notably with Bengt Hallberg, the composer turned his attention for two decades to film music and nursery rhymes. He wrote the scores for series featuring the character Pippi Longstocking, including several songs that have become classics. Georg Riedel did not abandon jazz, however, as evidenced by the albums Jazz i Kyrkan (1977) and Bröst-Toner (1980), with Arne Domnérus and Bengt Hallberg. He also composed an opera, Hemsöborna, based on the novel by August Strindberg. Honored by the city of Stockholm in 2021 and several other institutions, Georg Riedel died on February 25, 2024, at the age of 90.
©Copyright Music Story Stephen Schnee 2024
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Jazz at the Pawnshop: 30th Anniversary
Arne Domnerus, Georg Riedel, Bengt Hallberg, Lars Erstrand, Egil Johansen
Contemporary Jazz - Released by Proprius SACD on 1 Jan 1977
Stereophile: Record To Die For24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Jazz At The Pawnshop 2
Arne Domnerus, Bengt Hallberg, Georg Riedel, Egil Johansen
Contemporary Jazz - Released by Proprius on 1 Jan 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Barn på nytt - 25 sånger av Georg Riedel & Astrid Lindgren
Pop - Released by Parlophone Sweden on 10 Dec 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jazz At The Pawnshop 3 - Good Vibes
Arne Domnerus, Georg Riedel, Bengt Hallberg, Lars Erstrand, Egil Johansen
Contemporary Jazz - Released by Proprius on 1 Jan 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rainbow Sketches
Jazz - Released by Four Leaf Clover Records on 4 Aug 1974
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Água e Vinho
Classical - Released by Naxos Sweden - Mats Bergström Musik AB on 18 Nov 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Fler sånger utan ord
Pop - Released by Naxos Sweden on 18 Sep 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dance Music (Live at Fasching) (Live)
Georg Riedel, Ekdahl Bagge Big Band
Jazz - Released by Naxos Sweden - LB on 21 Oct 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Trio Con Tromba (with Uppsala Chamber Soloists)
Jan Allan, Georg Riedel, Bengt Hallberg
Jazz - Released by Vax Records on 8 Jun 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Georg Riedels Yiddishland/ Jiddischland- Naye lider/ New Songs/ Nya visor, Vol. II
Jazz - Released by Dos Nisele on 11 Oct 2023
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
In Memoriam
Stefan Nilsson, Jan Allan, Georg Riedel
Classical - Released by Vax Records on 27 Jul 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hemligheter på vägen
Jazz - Released by Footprint Records on 1 Oct 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jazz på svenska (Kommentarer av Georg Riedel)
Humour/Spoken Word - Released by Diesel on 1 Apr 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Den vilda bebin - och lite till (Musik av George Riedel, texter av Barbro Lindgren och Thomas Tidholm)
Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Alexander Hanson, Georg Riedel
Classical - Released by Naxos on 21 Oct 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fler sånger utan ord
Mats Bergstrom, Georg Riedel, Jonas Holgersson, Göran Söllscher, Andreas Hellkvist
Folk - Released by Naxos on 18 Sep 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dance Music (Live at Fasching) (Live)
Georg Riedel, Ekdahl Bagge Big Band
Traditional Jazz & New Orleans - Released by Ladybird Production on 21 Oct 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Den vilda bebin - och lite till (Musik av George Riedel, texter av Barbro Lindgren och Thomas Tidholm)
Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Alexander Hanson, Georg Riedel
Children - Released by Naxos Sweden on 21 Oct 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo