| Jazz |
In the landscape of contemporary European jazz, where understatement is often prized and musicians sometimes hide their brilliance behind a veil of Nordic cool, Nils Landgren has always stood apart. He is the rare figure who leads with color, literally and artistically. The man with the red trombone has become both a symbol and a presence: instantly recognizable, unapologetically warm, and deeply committed to forging connections across genres, continents and generations. And yet even those who know his work might be surprised to learn just how far his collaborations have stretched: from ABBA to The Crusaders, from Eddie Harris to Bernard “Pretty” Purdie, from Wyclef Jean to Herbie Hancock. Few European jazz musicians alive today can claim a résumé that reads like a kaleidoscope of late-20th-century popular and improvised music.
After decades of touring, countless awards, and an ever-expanding constellation of projects, whether under his own name, as producer and mentor, or with his long-running, irresistible Funk Unit, Landgren now returns in a setting that recalls an earlier era. Much like Frank Sinatra during his Past, Present, Future period, he steps into the spotlight accompanied not by a tight jazz band but by a full symphony orchestra: the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, no less. There is something theatrically grand about this moment, something summative, even ceremonial. The album collects songs he has interpreted over the past several years, offering listeners a panoramic view of the artist at a milestone.
And yet, for all the emotional weight of the project, the recording itself is not without flaws. The mix, at times, feels like a missed opportunity, muffled, with vocals slightly recessed, the orchestral textures occasionally blending into an indistinct haze. One imagines how luminous, how sonically transparent this album could have been with a more adventurous engineering approach. Then again, capturing a live orchestral performance with the spontaneity of jazz is notoriously difficult, a high-wire act requiring near-miraculous balance. In the end, the album functions less as a studio monument than as a living document, a snapshot of Nils Landgren at seventy: still daring, still searching, still deeply human.
Landgren remembers his beginnings with a candor that borders on disarming: “When I was young, I wanted to be a pop star… but a pop star playing the trombone. Everyone told me: forget it, just stay in the back of the orchestra. But that was something I could never accept.” His career, viewed now across decades, feels like a long rebuttal to that early skepticism. The red trombone, the unmistakable tone, the commitment to accessibility without compromise, these became his signature reply.
Much like the visionary Franco-Vietnamese guitarist Nguyen Lê, Landgren has become one of the animating spirits of the German label ACT. The label itself has evolved into something more than a recording house: a cultural institution, a kind of European counterweight to ECM’s introspective austerity, offering a brighter, bolder palette. Within ACT’s universe, Landgren is both artist and architect. Whether crafting his own albums or shepherding those of younger musicians, his touch has become a kind of guarantee, of quality, of clarity of purpose, of emotional generosity. “I don’t need bungee jumping or extreme sports,” he says with a smile. “Every time I step on stage, it’s like free climbing. That’s more than enough for me.”
Perhaps that is why the concerts marking his seventieth birthday promise to feel less like official ceremonies and more like extended family gatherings. The festivities begin on February 14 at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, one of Europe’s most striking concert halls—where Landgren will appear with his group, the Hamburger Symphoniker and a program titled Love Of My Life. On May 5, the celebration moves to the Berlin Philharmonie, joined by close friends and long-time collaborators: Michael Wollny, Wolfgang Haffner, China Moses, Viktoria Tolstoy, members of the Berlin Philharmonic and many others. And if early plans are any indication, all of 2026 will unfold as “The Year of Nils Landgren”: a year-long tour of Europe’s great concert halls, accompanied by renowned regional orchestras, carrying Love Of My Life from city to city like a musical banner.
His working method remains as surprising as it is revealing. “I usually meet the orchestras the day before the concert,” he explains. “Most of the time it’s just me and my trio—there isn’t even a conductor. As always in jazz, it’s all about communication. I just hope the orchestra musicians understand my ideas… and if they don’t, well, then I’ll just have to adapt.” In an era of overplanned productions, this approach feels almost radical, a reminder that jazz is, at its core, a conversation, not a script.
Over time, even the album’s imperfect sound becomes part of its identity. The ear acclimates; the emotion persists. And musically, as expected, Landgren and his collaborators perform at a level that dissolves technical limitations. But what ultimately defines Nils Landgren is not virtuosity, nor genre fluidity, nor the unmistakable crimson flash of his trombone. It is generosity: the openhanded spirit with which he approaches audiences, colleagues, and the world. Anyone who has seen him, even once, knows this instinctively.
This year, European audiences will be the lucky ones, able to witness the arc of his journey rendered in orchestral color. One can only hope that he eventually brings this project across the Atlantic, to the United States, where his artistry, rooted in warmth, humor, resilience and joy—would surely resonate. At seventy, Nils Landgren is not merely revisiting his past; he is rehearsing the next version of himself. His red trombone still points forward.
Thierry De Clemensat
Member at Jazz Journalists Association
USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, November 25th 2025
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To buy this album (February 2026)
Nils Landgren as a leader on ACT:
“Love of My Life” Nils Landgren & Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra (2026)
“Sonnets of Darkness of Love” Nils Landgren & The Swedish Radio Choir (2025)
“Christmas with my Friends IX” Nils Landgren & Friends (2025)
“raw” Nils Landgren Funk Unit (2024)
“Christmas With My Friends VIII” Nils Landgren & Friends (2023)
“4 Wheel Drive II” Landgren, Wollny, Danielsson & Haffner (2023)
“Nils Landgren & 3 Generations” (2022)
“Nature Boy” Nils Landgren solo (2021)
“Funk is my Religion” Nils Landgren Funk Unit (2021)
“Kristallen” Nils Landgren & Jan Lundgren (2020)
“Christmas With My Friends VII” Nils Landgren & Friends (2020)
“4 Wheel Drive LIVE” Landgren, Wollny, Danielsson & Haffner (2019)
“4 Wheel Drive” Landgren, Wollny, Danielsson & Haffner (2019)
“Christmas With My Friends VI” Nils Landgren & Friends (2018)
“Unbreakable” Nils Landgren Funk Unit (2017)
“Some Other Time” Nils Landgren, Janis Siegel & Bochumer Symphoniker (2016)
“Christmas With My Friends V” Nils Landgren & Friends (2016)
“Eternal Beauty” Nils Landgren Quartet (2014)
“Christmas With My Friends IV” Nils Landgren & Friends (2014)
“Teamwork” Nils Landgren Funk Unit (2013)
“Christmas With My Friends III” Nils Landgren & Friends (2012)
“The Moon, The Stars And You” Nils Landgren & Friends (2011)
“Funk for Life” Nils Landgren Funk Unit (2010)
“Christmas With My Friends II” Nils Landgren & Friends (2008)
“License to Funk” Nils Landgren Funk Unit (2007)
“Christmas With My Friends” Nils Landgren & Friends (2006)
“Salzau Music on the Water” Danielsson / Dell / Landgren (2006)
“Creole Love Call” Nils Landgren & Joe Sample (2005)
“Swedish Folk Modern” Nils Landgren & Esbjörn Svensson (2005)
“Funky ABBA” Nils Landgren Funk Unit (2004)
“I Will Wait For You” Nils Landgren & Rigmor Gustafsson (2003)
“Sentimental Journey” Nils Landgren & Friends (2002)
“Fonk da World” Nils Landgren Funk Unit (2001)
“Layers of Light” Nils Landgren & Esbjörn Svensson (2001)
“5.000 MILES” Nils Landgren Funk Unit (1999)
“Ballads” Nils Landgren with Bobo Stenson, Palle Danielsson, e.s.t. (1999)
“Live in Montreux” Nils Landgren Funk Unit (1998)
“Paint it Blue” Nils Landgren Funk Unit, Brecker Brothers, Bernard Purdie (1997)
“Gotland” Nils Landgren & Tomasz Stanko (1996)
“Live in Stockholm” Nils Landgren Funk Unit with Maceo Parker (1995)
“Chapter Two” Nils Landgren & Johan Norberg (1994)
“The First Unit” Nils Landgren Funk Unit (1992)