Nils Landgren
Felix Lamouroux talked to one of europeans greatest and most
groovin' trombonists Nils Landgren after the sound-check at the Stadtgarten,
Cologne.
June 1999
 What
does Jazz mean to you?
First of all jazz is improvised music. For me Jazz is a music
that is always moving and always changing. Jazz always gets new
faces, because it gets influenced by many other styles. Jazz is very
flexible.
What is the most important thing when playing in a group of
musicians?
The most important is too be open-minded. It is important that
you are open towards the music and the other musicians. For me the
respect for the other musicians is also very important. I don't tell
anybody in my group how to play or what to play, because I choose
them to play me and think that they are great musicians. You have to
trust each other.
What do you think about when playing?
I think about how to express the music in the best way. I think
about the solos, so that they won't always be slow or always fast.
Most pieces on Ballads have been recorded in March 1993
and in May 1998 you added You stole my heart.
Why have you waited so long before publishing Ballads in
Europe?
The CD was already published in Sweden on my own label. I
financed this recorded on my own. Then my German Label ACT heard the
CD and they like it that much that they wanted to publish it. They
just wanted one more piece on the CD. I choose You stole my heart
as it is one of my favorites.
Naturally it is a little older, but to me it doesn't sound old. It's
timeless.
How do you combine your career as solo-artist with your career
with Funk Unit?
That's no problem. At present I tour much with Funk Unit.
It's my first big project in Germany and I try to play as much as
possible with Funk Unit. I also play in duet with Esbjörn
Svensson on concerts. We even recorded an album together. You just
need to take the time for it.
What did you want to express with Ballads?
I wanted to sing and I wanted to record my favorite songs. So I
took my ten favorites, which I like very much and to which I have
listened many times.
When did you have the idea to start singing?
It was at school. My brother sang in a party-band - He was the
family's pop-star. Then he went away for a while and ask me to do
his job as we have a pretty similar sound. That wasn't professional,
in 1983 I played in a soul-band and also sang a little. I got pretty
famous for singing in Sweden.
What do you think is your best album?
I haven't yet recorded it. I hope that my best album will come.
I am constantly trying to do my best album, you always have these
kind of visions. That does not mean that I am perfectionist, I
simply try to get better.
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