Honorary Ambassadors

Quincy Delight Jones, Jr., born March 14, 1933 in South Side, Chicago, Illinois, is an American record producer, television and film producer, musician and songwriter. Quincy Jones was first known as a jazz musician, but today is also known as the producer behind Michael Jackson’s records Thriller, Bad, and Off the Wall.
The success and friendship meant that the collaboration continued.
In the mid-1980s, Quincy Jones was the producer of the charity single We Are the World. In 1989, he was a producer on Back On The Block, starring Barry White, James Ingram, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, George Benson, Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan, along with Big Daddy Kane and other rap and hip-hop stars. Among the TV productions he has been involved in can be mentioned Fresh Prince in Bel Air, and among film merits can be mentioned Purpurfärgen. He has won 26 Grammys and received the Polar Prize in 1994.

Svend Asmussen, born 28 February 1916 in Copenhagen,, died 7 February 2017 in Dronningmølle in Gribskovs municipality, was a Danish composer, conductor and jazz musician (violin). During his career he was a prominent and internationally recognized jazz violinist, solo or in teams with others. Photo: Kjell Oscarsson.

During Martin Martinsson’s time as CEO of Music in the South, a fruitful collaboration began between Ystad Sweden Jazz Festival and Music in the South.
Until 2001, Martin was director of Rikskonserter and he has taken the initiative for several concert halls, including Nybrokajen 11 in Stockholm, Palladium in Malmö and Kulturkvarteret in Kristianstad.
He has been a member of many boards, among others. a. The Royal College of Music in Stockholm, the Swedish Music Council, the Swedish Institute, Drottningholm’s Castle Theater, Voksenåsen, Jeunesse Musicale International and the Dance Museum.
Upon his retirement in 2018, he was named Honorary Ambassador for Ystad Sweden Jazz Festival.

Musikern och kompositören Georg Riedel utsågs till hedersambassadör under jazzfestivalen 2021.
Riedel föddes i dåvarande Tjeckoslovakien i en böhmisk-tysk familj. Hans mor var judisk och familjen emigrerade till Sverige för att fly nazisterna när Georg var fyra år. I skolåldern började han i Stockholms folkskolors sångklasser. Efter att först ha spelat fiol gick han över till att traktera kontrabasen. Han har spelat tillsammans med jazzmusiker och jazzgrupper som Jan Johansson, Arne Domnérus, Lars Gullin, Jan Allan, Radiobandet, Gunnar Svensson, Egil Johansen, Rune Gustafsson med flera. Riedel spelade bas i jazzgruppen Trio con Tromba.

Efter Jan Johanssons bortgång 1968 tog han över komponerandet av musiken till TV-serier och filmer efter Astrid Lindgrens böcker. Två av de mest minnesvärda kompositionerna är Du käre lille Snickerbo och Idas sommarvisa. Därefter fortsatte han att skriva musik till barnvisor. Utöver alla Astrid Lindgren-visor har han tonsatt Lennart Hellsing (Bananskiva 1976) och Barbro Lindgren och skrivit signaturmelodin till TV-serien Alfons Åberg.

Ronnie Gardiner has been named as an Honorary Ambassador of the Ystad Sweden Jazz Festival.

The American drummer, who has been based in Sweden since 1963, turned 90 on 25 July this year. Over a long career, he has played with all-time greats such as Dizzie Gillespie, Benny Carter, Gerry Mulligan and Dexter Gordon.

In the 1980s he established a new rhythm and music-based rehabilitation system for brain stimulation – the Ronnie Gardiner Method (RGM).

Susanne Rydén has provided excellent and dedicated support to the Ystad Sweden Jazz Festival during her years as CEO of Musik i Syd. She has also been a highly appreciated concert presenter at the festival.