Nils Landgren Funk Unit "Funky ABBA" live at JazzBaltica 2004

Photo © by: ACT / Johan Bergmark

The Funk Unit:
Nils Landgren - Trombone, Vocals
Magnum Coltrane Price - Vocals, Keyboard
Annika Granlund - Vocals, Trumpet
Jessica Pilnäs - Vocals
Karl-Martin Almqvist - Tenor Saxophone
Henrik Janson - Guitar
Lars DK Danielsson - Bass
Robert Östlund - Keyboard
Wolfgang Haffner - Drums
Special Guests:
Viktoria Tolstoy - Vocals
Roy Hargrove - Trumpet
Terri Lyne Carrington - Drums
Peter Weniger - Tenor Saxophone
Sharon Dyall - Vocals

recorded live at Große Konzertscheune Salzau, July 2004

1. Dancing Queen
2. Gimme!Gimme!Gimme!
3. Voulez-vous
4. When All Is Said And Done
5. Summer Night City
6. Knowing Me, Knowing You
7. Take A Chance On Me
8. Super Trooper
9. S.O.S.
10. Thank You For The Music
11. You Dig

Exactly 30 years after ABBA’s international breakthrough at the Eurovision Song Contest, Nils Landgren has undertaken a highly personal tribute to one of the greatest pop bands ever, working together with his grooving band, which "drives young people into a frenzy and yet also is taken seriously by the snobbish jazz lovers" (Spiegel).The new album is called FUNKY ABBA – and Nils can call it that with much justification, through his long-standing friendship with Benny Andersson. Twenty-five years ago, on the strength of his special trombone sound, Benny asked the fresh-faced Nils to join him in the studio to play on the ABBA song "Voulez-Vous". This time it was the other way round: Benny couldn’t wait to take part on at least one track of FUNKY ABBA.

Roy Hargrove Quintet Rheingau Musik Festival 2009

Roy Hargrove (tp)
Justin Robinson (sax)
Jonathan Batiste (p)
Ameen Saleem (b)
Montez Coleman (dr)

recorded live at Rheingau Musik Festival, Ruesselsheim, Germany, July 19., 2009

1. Kiss Me Right (Horace Silver)
2. Camaraderie (Roy Hargrove)
3. I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face (Loewe)
4. The Challenge (Scott, S.)
5. Bring It Home (Cooke, S.)
6. The Theme (M. Davis)
7. Low Life (Duke Jordan)
8. Nothing Serious (Quintero)

Roy Hagrove´s latest CD is a big band recording called "Emergence". Before that he released two great quintet sessions, "nothing Serious" and the formidable "Earfood".

Roy Hargrove Quintet live at JazzBaltica 2000

Roy Hargrove, trumpet
Sherman Irby, alto saxophone
Larry Willis, piano
Gerald Cannon, bass
Willie Jones III, drums

recorded live at JazzBaltica, Salzau, Germany, June 11, 2000

Tracklist:
1. Stranded
2. Style
3. Depth

You can find this edition of the Roy Hargrove Quintet on the album "Moment to Moment" on Verve:

Nils Landgren Funk Unit Surprise Party at JazzBaltica 2000

Nils Landgren Funk Unit:
Nils Landgren, trombone
Per Johansson, alto and soprano saxophone
Robert Östlund, guitar
Magnum Coltrane Price, bass, vocals
Jesper Nordenström, keyboards
Niklas Gabrielsson, drums
Hakon Landgren, percussions

Special Guests:
Esbjörn Svensson, fender rhodes piano
Willie Jones III, drums
Eduardo Cesperes, percussions
Peter Weniger, soprano and tenor saxophone
Jukka Perko, alto saxophone
Gerald Cannon, acoustic bass
Tim Hagans, trumpet
Roy Hargrove, trumpet
Sherman Irby, alto saxophone

recorded live at JazzBaltica 2000, Salzau, Germany, June 12, 2000

Tracklist:
1. Scratch/ Traci
2. Walk Tall
3. 5000 Miles
4. In a Fonky Mood
5. I Just Kissed My Babe/ Inside Straight
6. Da Fonk
7. You Dig

Maybe not very well known in the U.S., Nils Landgren is a big star in Europe. Look at the line up and you know why... Maybe the best record by "the unit" is a tribute to Cannonball called "Paint it blue", released on ACT:

Directions in Music live at Jazz Baltica 2002

Herbie Hancock, piano
Michael Brecker, tenor sax
Roy Hargrove, trumpet
George Mraz, bass
Willie Jones III, drums

recorded live at JazzBaltica 2002, Salzau, Germany, July 6, 2002

Tracklist:
1. The Sorcerer
2. Misstery
3. Naima
4. So What/ Impressions
5. D Trane
6. Transition
7. My Ship
8. Pinocchio

This concert was recorded after the release of the album "Directions in music", released on the Verve label. By the way there´s another great concert of this tour posted on the You Are What You Hear - Blog (Click Here) featuring the same lineup and a similar set list.