Christmas with My Friends VIII Nils Landgren

• 1Blue Christmas03:19
• 2That's How I Picture Christmas Eve02:39
• 3Santa Baby02:59
• 4Lully, Lulla, Lullay03:33
• 5Most of All03:45
• 6Soon After Christmas06:17
• 7Bells Are Ringing03:32
• 8Little Town of Bethlehem02:50
• 9O Tannenbaum03:16
• 10Julganglat02:51
• 11Förunderligt och nära03:24
• 12In Dulce Jubilo05:55
• 13It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year03:06
• Total Runtime47:26

Info for Christmas with My Friends VIII

Nils Landgren's "Christmas With My Friends" is a faithful companion at Christmas time and the repertoire is almost inexhaustible. The eighth edition also presents a varied selection of international, Swedish, traditional and modern Christmas songs as well as atmospheric secular popular songs in the familiar quiet and intimate mood.

For many, they have become as much a part of Christmas as cookies or the Christmas tree: Nils Landgren's Christmas albums. 17 years ago, the trombonist, singer and fixed star of the European jazz scene gathered his closest companions for the first time to get in the mood for Christmas with them on a tour of churches in Sweden and Germany. The result was "Christmas With My Friends," the "most beautiful Christmas album ever," as one critic wrote. Since then, Landgren and his friends have repeated this special way of celebrating Christmas every two years. And so it is now again: "Christmas With My Friends VIII" is ready for the gift table.

It is the richness of color that makes these albums so special and unique. Each musician contributes his own individual touch. Landgren his unrivaled variable and velvety trombone, Jonas Knutsson his lyrical saxophone playing, Johan Norberg his folky guitar tone; as a new sound this time the sonorous bass of Clas Lassbo is added, who is present for the first time. Above all, however, it is the voices that each give the pieces their special character and together complement each other perfectly: the classical vocals of Jeanette Köhn, the bittersweet soul of Ida Sands, the radiant clarity of Jessica Pilnäs, the powerful blues of Sharon Dyall and, last but not least, the bright white soul of Nils Landgren himself.

And so the listener can associate the pieces of the album with colors as desired. Who wouldn't think of green with "O Tannenbaum", especially if it is played in the New Orleans Mardi Gras style like here. Or with the hymnal swirling around the classical singing " In Dulce Jubilo" not of gold. Everyone can imagine his own color with the floating " Lully, Lalla, Lullay", the folky " Soon After Christmas" or the jazzy-emotional " It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year". Just like Johan Norberg does in his compositional contribution " That's How I Picture Christmas Eve".

Of course, the color of jazz can't be missing: "When we had recorded everything, Ida Sand said, 'What about Blue Christmas?'" says Landgren. And so the album starts with the wonderfully rolling blues of the same name by Bill Hayes and Jay Johnson, once made famous by Elvis Presley. So many colors are represented, and some more will surely be added on the German tour in December. All that remains is to wish: Merry, colorful Christmas!

Nils Landgren, trombone & vocals
Sharon Dyall, vocals
Jeanette Köhn, vocals
Jessica Pilnäs, vocals
Ida Sand, vocals & piano
Jonas Knutsson, saxophones
Johan Norberg, guitars
Clas Lassbo, bass

Nils Landgren
With his smoking, hard-hitting "Funk Unit", the man with the Red Horn has been responsible for a bunch of successful CDs over the past years. His concerts from Stockholm to Beijing have been met with ecstatic acclamation. In duo with pianist Esbjцrn Svensson, he has elevated Swedish folk music to the level of subdued works of art. As the artistic director of the 2001 Berlin Jazz Festival, designed a state of the art presentation of Scandinavian trends and moods. In May 2002 Nils was honored with the Tore Ehrling-prizeґ by the Swedish Society Of Popular Composers for "His outstanding contribution to spread swedish jazz music around the globe".

He is a world-class soloist and artist with heart and soul: Nils Landgren.

Jazz and church music shaped his childhood. As cornetist, Nils Landgren's father brought US jazz into the house. The traditional Swedish chorales and songs came from his grandfather, who was a preacher. Nils Landgren was born in 1956. He began playing drums at the age of six. At 13 he layed his hands and lips on the trombone and was hooked for life.

Between 1972 and 1978 Nils studied classical trombone at the music college in Karlstad with David Maytan and at the university in Arvika with Ingemar Roos. During this time he also met the legendary Swedish Folk-Jazz pioneer Bengt-Arne Wallin and the fantastic tromboneplayer and proffessor of the Graz Conservatory in Austria, Eje Thelin. These two men completely changed the way for Nils to go; from a strict classical player to an improviser with his own idea of what to play and why. After his graduation Nils moved to Stockholm to work as a professional tromboneplayer. First the life of a struggling jazz musician, making no money but gaining loads of experience. Then the call that totally changed his life: an offer to go on tour with Sweden's most successful pop star of that time Bjцrn Skifs who at that time was at #1 in the US pop charts with Hooked on a feelingґ. The money was ok, the vibes were cool and the band was simply great! Ever since that time Nils Landgren has been involved in a variety of music styles and projects. These include jazz, rock, soul, hip hop, big band's, studio sessions, and by his own reckoning, at least 500 albums. Mostly, for natural reasons with Swedish artists but also with such internationals stars as ABBA, The Crusaders, Eddie Harris, Bernard Prettyґ Purdie and Herbie Hancock. Nils even plays on the first Wyclef Jean solo album, titled Carnivalґ.

In 1981 Thad Jones invited the Swede into his new Bigband project Ball of Fireґ, to take the lead-trombone chair. The band was built up around such great musicians as Jerome Richardson, Jerry Dodgion, Tim Hagans, Bobby Burgess, Roger Kellaway, Sahib Shihab, Dusko Goykovich, and Benny. "A fantastic band, sad that it did not work out in the end", Nils says about that expreience. Two years later Nils debut album Planet Rockґ was released, followed by Streetfighterґ in 1984, You are my Nr 1ґ in 1985, Miles from Dukeґ with Bengt-Arne Wallin in 1987, Chapter Two 1ґ, in 1987, Chapter Two 2ґ and Follow your heartґ in 1989. Between 1985 and 1987 Nils also performed as actor, singer, trombonist, and dancer in over 360 performances of the Swedish "play of the year", SKЕL, as well as appearing in several TV-films as an actor.

1992 saw the first performances and recording of the Nils Landgren Unit; the recording was called Red Hornґ, and was mixed by the legendary sound engineer Bruce Swedien. (re-release 2001 as "The First Unit", ACT 9292-2). That same summer the band performed at the Playboy Jazzfestivalґ in Los Angeles, hosted by the great Bill Cosby. The final breakthrough outside of Scandinavia came first in 1994: it was at the Jazz Baltica Festival in Germany that the Unitґ became the Funk Unitґ. The album Live in Stockholmґ (ACT 9223-2) with guest star Maceo Parker was released that year and was the foundation for the collaboration with Siegfried Loch and his young ACT label.

Booklet for Christmas with My Friends VIII