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"On this album, we want to do the Funk, the whole Funk and nothing but the Funk. And yet, we haven't forgotten that there has always been a strong element of jazz in our music. It's still there. Don't you worry 'bout a thing."

A true musical cosmopolitan, Nils Landgren long acquired his licence in jazz and pretty much any other music performing alongside stars like Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker, Thad Jones, Herbie Hancock or Roy Hargrove. Born in Degerfors in the Swedish province of Värmland, an artist of such stature needs no one’s permission for anything and certainly not to funk. Mr. Red Horn, a name that stuck to Landgren because of his eye-catching red Yamaha trombone, has been a constant source of inspiration on the European jazz scene as an inexhaustible performer, highly original composer and charismatic teacher.

The focus of the new album Licence To Funk is on the communicating quality of funk. It is no surprise that a red-blooded musician like Nils Landgren would never let his indubitable jazz sensibility and fearsome virtuosity get the better of this endeavour, and turn it into an academic exercise. No way, José! This is an album for those who like to party, or as Nils states tongue-in-cheek: an album "to move my old Swedish body to the beat". Landgren was able to snag one of Detroit funk’s true legends for his new project: guitarist Ray Parker Jr. The composer of the million selling "Ghostbusters" had collaborated with Landgren on the Swede’s Creole Love Call album with Joe Sample. All the musicians are featured as composers on Licence To Funk.

"People keep asking me, what is Funk and what makes you feel like doin' stuff like that? The answer is quite simple. I play it because I love it. We all do."

Fred Wesley’s "House Party", the ecstatic opener sets the pace for what follows: a celebration of funk as a collective experience. Each of the twelve tracks shows up a different aspect of the genre: the relaxed elegance of Landgren’s own Capetown Shuffle contrasts with the exhilarating verve of the Ashford/Simpson classic Stuff Like That. Lush gospel harmonies characterize the vocal sections of Magnum Coltrane Price’s brisk freakU. Soulful solos by the two horn players crown Wolfgang Haffner’s laid-back Slowfoot, vocalist Ida Sand charges her composition Secret with lascivious blues feeling, while Landgren’s understated vocals bring a cool lounge vibe to 24Hours. The explosive riffs on SampleRayT conjure up the spirit of the Crusaders’ heyday as does the power play of the whole band on "Brazos River Breakdown" an original by Crusaders-saxophonist Wilton Felder.

Licence To Funk opens a new chapter in one of the most impressive success stories of the European jazz of the last years

The CD:

Licence To Funk – Nils Landgren Funk Unit – ACT 9455-2-LC07644

Line Up:

Nils Landgren – trombone, vocals
Ray Parker Jr – guitar, vocals
Magnum Coltrane Price – bass, vocals
Ida Sand – keyboards, vocals
Magnus Lindgren – sax, flute vocals
Wolfgang Haffner – drums, vocals

Track Listing:

1 House Party (F. Wesley)
2 freakU (M.C. Price)
3 24Hours (N. Landgren)
4 Stuff Like That (Q. Jones, N. Ashford, V. Simpson)
5 Slowfoot (W. Haffner)
6 Capetown Shuffle (N. Landgren)
7 At Home (W. Haffner/ M.C. Price)
8 Secret (I. Sand)
9 SampleRayT (R. Parker Jr,)
10 For Those Who Like To Party (R. Parker Jr.)
11 Brazos River Breakdown (W. Felder)
12 Tomomis Tune (M.C. Price)