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.

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