Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Nils Landgren: Paint it Blue

249

Nils Landgren: Paint it Blue

Nils Landgren: Paint it Blue
Although trombonist Nils Landgren has released several albums in his native Sweden since the mid 80s, Paint It Blue appears to be his first album available in the United States. Landgren, who calls his sextet the Funk Unit, has subtitled Paint It Blue "A Tribute to Cannonball Adderley" and, as such, has produced something that successfully brings some of Adderley's funk right into the 90s.

The most obvious choices for Adderley covers are this release's best tunes: "Walk Tall," "Why Am I Treated So Bad" and "Mercy Mercy Mercy." They rock hard in a contemporary groove without losing the integrity of their original identity. Landgren fares well on the not-so-obvious choices too: Nat's "Inside Straight" (1973) and Cannon's "Primitivo" (1962). Paint It Blue 's best track, though, is the heavy-duty dose of Adderley-like funk, "You Dig," co-written by Landgren and two Unit members. "You Dig," which features the immediately identifiable tenor of Michael Brecker and the always-welcome trapfunk of Bernard Purdie, is Landgren doing what he does best — letting his brassy bone slide with slick confidence all over the funk terrain.

Much of this record often recalls J.J. Johnson's underrated soundtrack music of the 1970s. Some of the tunes also feature brief, mercifully unobtrusive rap / vocals by Unit member Magnum Coltrane Price. The rest of Paint It Blue , while it has seemingly little more than a title connecting it to Cannonball's music, is notable for not being bone-heavy at all. That's due to Landgren's subtle talents and the utilization of the Unit as a group entity with equally talented players getting front-line attention.

Despite an unfortunate overabundance of slow jams (which, reveals the limits of Landgren's sparkle and wit, unlike Cannonball's), Paint It Blue , does have enough solid jazz-funk to keep it going. For another approach to Cannonball Adderley's inspiration, interested listeners may also want to check out the Manhattan Project's quite good, recently-released non-funk disc, We Remember Cannon , on Evidence.

Personnel

Nils Landgren
trombone

Album information

Title: Paint it Blue | Year Released: 1997 | Record Label: ACT Music

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Eternal Moments
Yoko Yates
From "The Hellhole"
Marshall Crenshaw
Tramonto
John Taylor

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.