Nils Landgren

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Nils Landgren, KulturArena , Jena, 2014

Nils Landgren (born February 15, 1956 in Degerfors , Värmland ) is a Swedish trombonist and singer . He is one of the most successful European jazz musicians . His best known formation is the Nils Landgren Funk Unit . The nickname "Mr. He wears the Red Horn because of his red trumpet.

Life

Training and early work

Landgren was born into a music-loving family; his father was a jazz cornet player. He started playing drums at the age of six and switched to the trombone at the age of 13. From 1972 to 1978 he studied classical trombone in Karlstad and Arvika. Influenced by encounters with Bengt-Arne Wallin and Eje Thelin , he then switched to jazz. After moving to Stockholm, Landgren started his professional career with a tour with the Swedish pop star Björn Skifs (US pop charts number one with “Hooked on a Feeling”) and in 1981 as lead trombonist with the big band project “Ball of Fire ”by Thad Jones . The trombonist worked in the following years with ABBA (for Voulez-Vous ), The Crusaders , Eddie Harris and Herbie Hancock . His album debut "Planet Rock" (1983) was followed by the albums "Streetfighter" (1984), "You are my Nr 1" (1985), "Miles from Duke" (with Bengt-Arne Wallin 1987), "Chapter Two 1 "(1987)," Chapter Two 2 "and" Follow your heart "(1989). In 1995 Landgren switched to the German independent jazz label ACT Music as an exclusive artist , to which he is loyal to this day.

Nils Landgren Funk Unit

In 1992 the trombonist founded the Nils Landgren Unit and performed successfully with it at the Playboy Jazz Festival in Los Angeles. However, the international breakthrough came in 1994 with the appearance at the German Jazz Baltica Festival in Salzau and the renaming to "Nils Landgren Funk Unit". With the 1995 debut album "Live in Stockholm" (with Maceo Parker as a guest) the band became internationally known. The album also marked the start of the collaboration with the ACT label. A year later the first studio album "Paint it Blue" followed, a homage to the bebop saxophonist Cannonball Adderley with guest musicians such as the Brecker Brothers and Till Brönner . With this album Landgren won the German Jazz Award for the first time . The performance at the 1998 Montreux Jazz Festival can be described as a highlight in the Funk Unit's career . The live recording was published in 1998 under “Live in Montreux”. With Esbjörn Svensson , Fred Wesley and Roy Hargrove , among others , Nils Landgren released “5000 Miles” in 1999, for which he was nominated for the ECHO . With “Funky ABBA” Landgren paid tribute to the well-known Swedish pop band in 2004. In cooperation with “ Doctors Without Borders ”, “Funk For Life” (2010) supported a charitable music project in the Kibera slum ( Nairobi ). Landgren regularly travels there with his Funk Unit to make music with the local children and young people. The line-up of the Funk Unit has remained unchanged since the end of 2010, with bassist and singer Magnum Coltrane Price , woodwind players Magnus Lindgren and Jonas Wall , Sebastian Studnitzky on keyboard, guitarist Andy Pfeiler and drummer Robert Mehmet Ikiz . In this formation and with the Crusaders legends Joe Sample and Wilton Felder and Till Brönner as guests, “Teamwork” was released in May 2013.

Landgren as a singer

Nils Landgren's singing was first heard on the original recording of the ABBA song "Voulez Vous", on which he also played the trombone. From 1985-87 he appeared in 360 shows of the successful Swedish play "SKÅL" as a singer, actor, trombonist and dancer. Starting with the album “Ballads” (1993), he concentrated on singing ballads in addition to his instrumental work and his vocal use in the funk unit. He continued this with Rigmor Gustafsson in 2003 on “I Will Wait For You”, in 2002 with “Sentimental Journey” and in 2011 with “The Moon, The Stars, And You”. On the 2005 album "Creole Love Call" with Joe Sample, he also proved himself to be a blues singer.

Other Projects

Landgren keeps referring to his homeland - for the first time on “Gotland” (with Tomasz Stańko , 1996) and later on the two duo albums “Layers of Light” and “Swedish Folk Modern” with the pianist Esbjörn Svensson, on which the two interpret traditional Swedish songs. In 2005 he initiated the CD and concert series “Christmas with My Friends”, with increasing success, in which he interprets Christmas carols with Scandinavian musicians. A very special project is “Salzau Music on The Water”, recorded live at JazzBaltica 2006 with Lars Danielsson and Christopher Dell . The spontaneous improvisation of rare calm and meditative power was recorded in the early hours of the morning. Nils Landgren can also be heard as a guest musician on numerous albums, such as Viktoria Tolstoy , Ida Sand , Wolfgang Haffner and Joe Sample, in whose band Crusaders he was a member for many years.

In 2015 Landgren also performed with the Bochum Symphony Orchestra at the Dortmund Konzerthaus , with whom he was able to perform his and Vince Mendoza's compositions in a large orchestra.

Big bands

Nils Landgren travels around the world with various big band formations and is hired as a guest soloist. He got his first job as lead trombonist in the early 1980s in Thad Jones' big band. From 1998 to 2001 Landgren was a member of the NDR Big Band in Hamburg. For the 2008/2009 concert season he was hired to lead the NDR Bigband as a double head, together with conductor and arranger Jörg Achim Keller . Landgren continues to perform regularly with the NDR Bigband. In 2006 he was involved in the last recording of the saxophonist Eddie Harris with the WDR Big Band Cologne (“Last Concert”). Landgren is currently the artistic director of the Bohuslän Big Band , with whom he released the 2011 Cole Porter homage "Don't Fence Me In", arranged by Colin Towns .

Producer activity

In addition to his numerous publications as a trombonist and singer, Nils Landgren also appeared as a producer, including albums by the Swedish singers Viktoria Tolstoy and Ida Sand , by Wolfgang Haffner and the newcomers Julian & Roman Wasserfuhr , Adam Bałdych and Mo 'Blow .

further activities

Nils Landgren was artistic director of the Jazzfest Berlin from 2001 and from 2008 to 2011 , succeeding Peter Schulze . Since 2012 he has also been the artistic director of JazzBaltica . Since 2006 he has been teaching as a lecturer and from 2014 as professor at the Hamburg University of Music for Jazz Trombone.

Private

Landgren with his wife Beatrice Järås at the Swedish Grammys gala , 2013

Landgren is married to the actress Beatrice Järås and lives with her in the Österlen region .

Awards

Nils Landgren received the German Jazz Award of the Federal Association of the Music Industry for numerous of his albums , reached top positions in the jazz charts and received the Swedish Grammy several times . In 2012 Landgren was honored with the Sir George Martin Music Award in Sweden and the honorary award for his life's work at the Swedish Grammys. In 2016 he received the Joachim Ernst Berendt Prize of Honor from the City of Baden-Baden (awarded on March 17, 2016 in Baden-Baden as part of the Mr. M's Jazz Club festival).

In 2019 he received the Federal Cross of Merit on ribbon. The award recognized "Landgren's role in the cultural exchange between Germany and Scandinavia, his contribution to increasing the reputation of German music in Sweden and his diverse commitment to promoting young up-and-coming artists from Germany and Scandinavia".

Discography

Nils Landgren live at the Leverkusener Jazz Days 2017

Albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
SE SE DE DE
1996 Paint It Blue SE56 (1 week)
SE 		DE-
Gold (jazz)
Gold (jazz)
DE
with radio unit
1999 5000 miles SE58 (1 week)
SE 		DE-
Gold (jazz)
Gold (jazz)
DE
with radio unit
2002 Sentimental Journey - Ballads II SE34 (4 weeks)
SE 		DE-
Platinum (jazz)
Platinum (jazz)
DE
2004 Funky Abba SE31 (7 weeks)
SE 		DE43
Platinum (jazz)
Platinum (jazz)

(3 weeks)DE
2005 Creole love call SE59 (1 week)
SE 		DE-
Platinum (jazz)
Platinum (jazz)
DE
2006 Christmas with My Friends SE12 (4 weeks)
SE 		DE-
Platinum (jazz)
Platinum (jazz)
DE
with, among others, Viktoria Tolstoy , Jeanette Köhn, Sharon Dyall, Ida Sandlund, Bugge Wesseltoft
2007 License to Funk SE15 (4 weeks)
SE 		DE70
Platinum (jazz)
Platinum (jazz)

(2 weeks)DE
Nils Landgren Funk Unit
German Jazz Award
2008 Christmas with My Friends II SE44 (4 weeks)
SE 		DE-
Platinum (jazz)
Platinum (jazz)
DE
with Jeanette Köhn, Sharon Dyall, Ida Sandlund, Jonas Knutsson
2010 Funk for Life SE29 (3 weeks)
SE 		DE93
Gold (jazz)
Gold (jazz)

(1 week)DE
Nils Landgren Funk Unit
German Jazz Award
2011 Don't Fence Me In SE21 (3 weeks)
SE 		-
The Moon, the Stars and You SE11 (14 weeks)
SE 		DE52
Gold (jazz)
Gold (jazz)

(3 weeks)DE
with Michael Wollny , Lars Danielsson, Rasmus Kihlberg, Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
German Jazz Award
2012 Christmas with My Friends III SE24 (4 weeks)
SE 		DE69
Platinum (jazz)
Platinum (jazz)

(2 weeks)DE
with Jonas Knutsson , Johan Norberg, Jeanette Köhn, Jessica Pilnäs , Sharon Dyall, Eva Kruse and Ida Sand
German Jazz Award
2013 Teamwork SE12 (6 weeks)
SE 		DE70 (1 week)
DE
Nils Landgren Funk Unit
2014 Eternal beauty - DE66
Gold (jazz)
Gold (jazz)

(1 week)DE
with Michael Wollny , Johan Norberg, Lars Danielsson , Rasmus Kihlberg
German Jazz Award
Christmas with My Friends IV SE48 (1 week)
SE 		DE73
Gold (jazz)
Gold (jazz)

(3 weeks)DE
German Jazz Award
2016 Some Other Time - A Tribute to Leonard Bernstein - DE88 (1 week)
DE
Christmas with My Friends V. - DE71
Gold (jazz)
Gold (jazz)

(4 weeks)DE
German Jazz Award
2017 Unbreakable - DE91 (1 week)
DE
NL Funk Unit with Ray Parker Jr.
2018 Christmas with My Friends VI - DE55 (3 weeks)
DE
2019 4 wheel drive - DE39
Gold (jazz)
Gold (jazz)

(5 weeks)DE
with Wollny , Danielsson & Haffner
German Jazz Award
2020 Crystals - DE57 (1 week)
DE

More albums

  • 1983: Planet Rock
  • 1984: Streetfighter
  • 1985: You Are My No. 1
  • 1987: Miles from Duke (with Bengt-Arne Wallin )
  • 1987: Chapter Two 1 (with Johan Norberg)
  • 1989: Chapter Two 2 (with Johan Norberg)
  • 1989: Follow your heart
  • 1991: Untitled Sketches (with Tomasz Stańko )
  • 1992: Red Horn
  • 1992. Ballads (DE:goldgold)
  • 1994: Live in Stockholm (with Funk Unit and Maceo Parker , DE:goldgold)
  • 1996: Gotland
  • 1997: Swedish Folk Modern (with Esbjörn Svensson )
  • 1998: Live in Montreux (with Funk Unit)
  • 1999: Layers of Light (with Esbjörn Svensson, DE:goldgold)
  • 2001: Fonk da World (with Funk Unit, DE:goldgold)
  • 2003: I Will Wait For You (with Rigmor Gustafsson)
  • 2005: Salzau Music on the Water (with Lars Danielsson and Christopher Dell )
  • 2013: New Eyes on Baroque (with Jeanette Köhn, Johan Norberg, Jonas Knutsson, Eva Kruse and the Swedish Radio Choir)
  • 2014: Redhorn Collection

As a producer

  • 2004: Shining on You (by Viktoria Tolstoy)
  • 2005: My Swedish Heart (by Viktoria Tolstoy)
  • 2006: Shapes (by Wolfgang Haffner)
  • 2006: On My Way with You (by Rigmor Gustafsson)
  • 2007: Meet Me Around Midnight (by Ida Sand)
  • 2008: My Russian Soul (by Viktoria Tolstoy)
  • 2009: Upgraded in Gothenburg (by Julian & Roman Wasserfuhr )
  • 2011: For Those About to Funk (by Mo 'Blow)
  • 2011: Letters to Herbie (by Viktoria Tolstoy)
  • 2011: Gospel Truth by Ida Sand (by Ida Sand)
  • 2012: Imaginary Room (by Adam Baldych & the Baltic Gang)
  • 2013: Gimme the Boots (by Mo 'Blow)

Movies

  • Nils Landgren - Do Your Own Thing. Documentary, Germany, 2014, 53:30 min., Script and direction: Jan Bäumer and Dietmar Klumm, production: 3sat , ZDF , series: Musicmania , first broadcast: September 20, 2014 on 3sat, summary by 3sat, ( memento from 20. September 2014 in the web archive archive.today ).
  • The alphorn and the sun in your luggage. Arkady Shilkloper on the way to JazzBaltica. Documentary, Germany, 2013, 58:33 min., Script and director: Christoph Engel, production: ZDF , 3sat , first broadcast: September 28, 2013 on 3sat, summary ( memento from April 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) by 3sat. JazzBaltica manager Landgren in conversation and interaction with Shilkloper.

Web links

Commons : Nils Landgren  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Time Island. Nils Landgren moves to Dortmund. In: nrwjazz.net , November 3, 2014.
  2. ↑ Professor title for Nils “Mr. Red Horn “Landgren. ( Memento of August 4, 2014 in the Internet Archive ). In: Hamburg University of Music and Theater , May 15, 2014.
  3. ↑ Jürgen Overkott: Why star jazz musician Nils Landgren plays a red trombone. In: WAZ , January 27, 2015, interview with Landgren.
  4. ↑ Federal Cross of Merit for Nils Landgren , NDR from June 13, 2019, accessed on June 13, 2019
  5. ↑ Chart sources: SE DE
  6. ↑ Awards for music sales: DE
personal data
SURNAME Landgren, Nils
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swedish jazz musician, trombonist
DATE OF BIRTH February 15, 1956
PLACE OF BIRTH Degerfors , Varmland , Sweden