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Jazzrausch Bigband: Beethoven's Breakdown
by Geno Thackara
The big names of bebop made a splash in the music world by brashly turning convention on its head. Black Sabbath first catalyzed heavy metal into the force we know today. Punk was invented by either Link Wray, the New York Dolls or (depending on how you look at it) Cheech and Chong. Still, for flouting rules, they were already following in footsteps hundreds of years old. Those names could have hardly hoped to be more disruptive in their respective ...
Continue Reading4 Wheel Drive at Hong Kong Arts Centre
by Rob Garratt
4 Wheel Drive Quartet Hong Kong Arts Centre Jazz World Live Series Hong Kong September 3, 2019 When exactly did jazz artists covering pop music shift from being a cheap and/or twee—but near-universally frowned-upon—novelty, to an almost obligatory rite of passage? Some will point to the pioneering piano deconstructions of Radiohead, The Beatles, et al by Brad Mehldau, others the more recent hip-hop collabs and Robert Glasper Experiments—more may reach further back ...
Continue ReadingNils Landgren: Unbreakable
by Chris M. Slawecki
The very first album released by German progressive label ACT Records (in 1994) was by the Funk Unit led by trombone master Nils Landgren, recorded Live in Stockholm that summer with Maceo Parker as special guest. Other Funk Unit releases for ACT Records include Paint It Blue (1996), the trombonist's tribute to composer/saxophonist Cannonball Adderley with Randy Brecker, Michael Brecker, drummer Bernard Purdie and other guests; and Funky Abba (2004), Landgren's Funk Unit tribute to the legendary Swedish popsters, graced ...
Continue ReadingWDR Jazz Fest 2016
by Phillip Woolever
WDR Jazz Fest Theatre Munster Münster, Germany January 30, 2016 The multi-stationed broadcaster WDR (West German Radio) is known throughout most of greater Germany as a powerhouse of jazz programming and concert promotion. That lofty reputation was upheld and then some with Jazz Fest 2016, which included a Saturday night with one of the strongest single day lineups of pure jazz seen recently. From a pair of dynamic big bands to some intense small formations, ...
Continue ReadingNils Landgren: Some Other Time
by Bruce Lindsay
Hot on the heels of his guest appearance on Mo' Blow's funky Live In Berlin (ACT Music, 2016), trombonist and singer Nils Landgren moves over to Broadway with Some Other Time. As the sub-title makes clear, this is A Tribute To Leonard Bernstein--a worthy and at times achingly beautiful tribute, too. Landgren is joined by Manhattan Transfer vocalist Janis Siegel and by the excellent rhythm section of Jan Lundgren on piano, Dieter Ilg on bass and Wolfgang Haffner ...
Continue ReadingNils Landgren: Christmas With My Friends IV
by Bruce Lindsay
Christmas is a time for tradition--turkey, mistletoe, reindeer, plum pudding. Since 2006 another fine tradition has been insinuating itself into the Christmases of jazz lovers--the Nils Landgren Christmas With My Friends album. The Swedish trombonist, singer and bandleader is now on volume IV. Packaged in bright, shiny, green and silver, it's a mix of old and new, familiar and unfamiliar. Every track, with a couple of notable exceptions, is a holiday-themed joy and even the exceptions seem, in Landgren's hands, ...
Continue ReadingNils Landgren: The Moon, The Stars and You
by AAJ Italy Staff
Dopo appena un anno dalla pubblicazione del disco di Nils Landgren The Moon, The Stars and You ne viene pubblicata una ristampa, completa di un DVD in cui il trombonista e vocalista svedese ed il suo quartetto sono ripresi live al Jazz Club Fasching di Stoccolma. Un tale successo di pubblico è più che meritato. Sulla linea più di un Chet Baker (ma senza quella fragilità emotiva costantemente in evidenza) che di vocalisti esuberanti come Kevin Mahogany o Al Jarreau, ...
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