Nils Landgren Funk Unit — JazzBaltica, 2016

Concert by the Nils Landgren Funk Unit at the JazzBaltica festival, in Germany, in 2016. A Swedish trombonist and singer, Nils Landgren is a respected figure on the European scene, equally at home in jazz, funk and soul. With his Funk Unit, a band he has led since the late 1980s, he champions a groovy, generous instrumental funk, where brass, keyboards and a solid rhythm section converse with the energy of live jazz. This filmed concert highlights the chemistry of a group well-versed in the art of the stage, between catchy themes, improvisations and grooves that invite movement. The setting of JazzBaltica, a festival renowned for its demanding programming on the shores of the Baltic, underlines the jazz roots of this music while letting its festive dimension come through. The capture conveys the warmth of a collective performance driven by Landgren’s expressive playing on the trombone, his famous “red horn”. A full concert ideal for fans of funk, jazz-funk and fusion, worth discovering for the quality of its playing and the infectious drive of the Funk Unit.