NILS LANDGREN & JOE SAMPLE — Creole Love Call (2006) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Swedish trombonist and vocalist Nils Landgren joins forces with Joe Sample and friends in New Orleans for this studio session, which mixes up a hot gumbo of R&B, jazz, and Crescent City down-home fun. The play list draws from many styles, including works by local legend Allen Toussaint, Ray Charles, rocker Stephen Stills, and even Willie Nelson, as was as originals by Sample and one from jazz master Duke Ellington. The duet tracks are the most fun as Landgren shares the vocals with Ray Parker, Jr. ("Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay") and Charmaine Neville (on the funky "With You in Mind"). The guitar and percussion-heavy take of "Love the One You're With" leans more toward Stills' original conception than the Isley Brothers' overdone interpretation, though Sample's playful licks keep things loose and the heavy overdubs of the composer are missing in this version. The only dull track is the monotonous "I Can't Get Enough of Your Love," which wears out its welcome quickly. "Creole Love Call" adds the Piety Street Brass Band for a slightly modern twist on an early jazz favorite from the 1920s. When he's not singing, Landgren plays a mean trombone. Fortunately, this CD was completed several months before the unwelcome arrival of Hurricane Katrina. Ken Dryden

 More about the album:
The man with the red trombone is always on the look out for new challenges. This is what has made Nils Landgren one of the most creative, many-sided and also most successful artists to be currently found in the European jazz scene. Since 1994 he has been under contract to the ACT Label from Munich, releasing over this period 12 albums in his own name. Seven have received the golden German Jazz Award, with two even going platinum! Meanwhile, his role as producer of Swedish singers Rigmor Gustafsson and Viktoria Tolstoy has brought him two further gold awards.

With "Mr Redhorn" Nils Landgren, who "for a long time has been at the forefront of European jazz trombonists" (Spiegel), you don't only associate the frenetic celebrated concerts of his groovy Funk Unit, which has been ceaselessly on the road for the past year with the successful project FUNKY ABBA (ACT 9430-2). You also know him from his intimate duos with Esbjörn Svensson where they would rework Swedish folk songs, from his chamber concerts of religious music or from his collaborations with big bands.

One first came across Nils Landgren as the sensitive interpreter of ballads on his 1999 album Ballads (ACT 9269-2) from which can be appreciated his gentle and touching voice and "hypnotic charm" (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). Following this he released his platinum disc Sentimental Journey (ACT 9409-2) and produced the exceptionally successful album I Will Wait For You (ACT 9418-2) by Rigmor Gustafsson. In 2005 the journey has now taken him to the southern states of USA, leading him to New Orleans.

There are many reasons for this. Karl-Erik Landgren would habitually tell his young son: ”Listen to this music, it’s the real stuff”, whenever he took up his cornet to rehearse the swinging tunes from the New Orleans era with his band or played his shellac discs. The enthusiasm spread from father to son and the fascination for the sounds and rhythms of the cradle of jazz was passed on to the young Nils. It was a lifelong dream of his father to set foot in the hometown of jazz at least once in his life. Nils made the journey in his place in spring 2005, in order to realise a project devoted to the music of the American South. A project that could only be recorded in one town and with one man in particular: in New Orleans and with Joe Sample: Creole Love Call.

Born in Houston, Texas, Joe Sample grew up exposed to the usual Southern mix of jazz, blues and gospel. He is known above all as a founder member, pianist, keyboardist and composer of the legendary funk jazz band The Crusaders, with which he wrote musical history over the decades. So many of his songs became worldwide hits, such as "Street Life" sung by Randy Crawford in 1979. Many of these can be rediscovered on Creole Love Call. Since the late Seventies, Joe Sample has also followed a parallel career as solo pianist and accompanied stars such as Marvin Gaye, Tina Turner, B.B. King, Eric Clapton and Joe Cocker on numerous albums and tours.

Nils Landgren and Joe Sample have known each other for at least 20 years, from when Nils accidentally found himself in the middle of a recording session of The Crusaders in Los Angeles and then played together with Randy Crawford in Santa Barbara the following summer. Years later, after three of the original Crusaders got back together in 2003, Joe Sample invited Nils at the beginning of 2005 to join him on a major Japan tour - and thus Creole Love Call was sealed with a simple handshake.

The band which Nils and Joe specially put together for this album mainly consists of musicians from New Orleans. With a famous exception: the pop and soul star Ray Parker Jr., especially known for the title song for the Ivan Reitman film "Ghostbusters" (1984). Here he plays guitar and duets with Nils Landgren on the Otis Redding hit "Dock Of The Bay". The rhythm section includes bassist Chris Severin, who is known amongst others from many Dianne Reeves albums, Raymond Weber (drums), and Lenny Castro (percussion). Weber was in the 90s a member of Harry Connick Jr.'s Big Band and is to be seen on screen in the film "Ray" as the drummer in the band of Ray Charles. The busy percussionist Lenny Castro has worked together with greats such as Al Jarreau, Stevie Wonder, Barbra Streisand, Ricky Lee Jones, Diana Ross and Quincy Jones, and is also known for work with Joe Sample and The Crusaders.

Charmaine Neville, a member of the famous Neville Brothers clan, appears as "special guest", interpreting with Nils Landgren Allen Toussaint's classic "With You In Mind", which lyrics are written by her uncle Aaron Neville. Also appearing on Creole Love Call is one of New Orleans' most famous musicians, the sousaphone player Kirk Joseph, arguably the most important and most creative innovator of his instrument. Together with trombonist "Big Sam" Sammie Williams, leader of the New Orleans funk band "Big Sam's Funky Nation", he is a member of the legendary New Orleans' Dirty Dozen Brass Band. ACT
Tracklist :
1        Get Out Of My Life Woman 4:16
Written-By – Allen Toussaint
2        (Sittin' On The) Dock Of The Bay 4:31
Written-By – Otis Redding, Steve Cropper
3        Nightlife 4:33
Written-By – Willie Nelson
4        Soul Shadows 5:15
Written-By – Joe Sample, Will Jennings
5        The Brightest Smile In Town 6:21
Written-By – Barry de Vorzon, Ray Charles, Bob Sherman
6        Don't Take Your Love To Hollywood 3:13
Written-By – Joe Sample, Will Jennings
7        One Day I Fly Away 4:00
Written-By – Joe Sample, Will Jennings
8        With You In Mind 3:11
Written-By – Allen Toussaint
9        I Can't Get Enough Of Your Love 5:32
Written-By – Joe Sample
10        Love The One You're With 3:19
Written-By – Stephen Stills
11        Same Old Story 4:38
Written-By – Joe Sample, Will Jennings
12        Creole Love Call 2:52
Written-By – Duke Ellington
Credits :
Nils Landgren – Trombone and Vocals
Joe Sample – Grand piano, Fender Rhodes
Ray Parker Jr. – Guitar and Vocals
Chris Severin – Acoustic Bass
Raymond Weber – Drums
Lenny Castro – Percussion

Special Guest:
Charmaine Neville – Vocals

NES (Nesrine Belmokh • Mathieu Saglio • David Gadea) — Ahlam (2018) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Three languages, three instruments, three artists. One unified musical identity.

NES can't be tied down to a specific location. Their music is between traditional Arabic and world music, jazz and pop. These three superb musicians originally met in Valencia in Spain. Percussionist David Gadea is from the region, and was already touring with Flamenco greats such as Ximo Tébar and Josemi Carmona; Matthieu Saglio is a French cellist “with a thousand tone colours” who has performed in more than 30 countries; the singer/cellist Nesrine Belmokh had worked with legendary conductors such as Lorin Maazel and Daniel Barenboim, and performed with Cirque du Soleil on international tours. Placido Domingo has called Nesrine “an exceptional artist, a wonderful voice.”

Russafa, the area around the station in Valencia, Spain, is famous for its market, which offers every imaginable Mediterranean delicacy. This was once a working-class district, but is now full of eccentric cafés and hip restaurants. "Russafa is a place full of light and colours," explains Nesrine Belmokh. "It's the perfect meeting place for everything Mediterranean!" It also proved to be a meeting place that would shape the singer/cellist's future as a musician, because it was there that she met the percussionist David Gadea in 2015. "David and I went to a solo concert by a cellist, Matthieu Saglio. When we talked afterwards, we found out that for seven years we had both lived in Russafa without knowing each other - only 200 metres apart!"

The three became friends, created a trio, built a repertoire and chose a name: NES, Nesrine's nickname. The acoustic music on her debut album "Ahlam" draws strong inspiration from pop and flamenco, as well as from the sounds Nesrine heard in her parents' house, which was frequented by Arabic musicians from the Mediterranean region.

“Arab-Andalusian music is more or less the classical music of North Africa, and it left its mark on me," explains Nesrine. "It was also the starting point for my artistic career – that all got going when I sang and played mandolin in an Arab-Andalusian band. Later on I embarked on classical cello studies, but I always knew I wanted to be a singer."

"Ahlam" means "dream" in Arabic. The long-held wish of the three NES musicians was to make an internationally released album - a dream which has now quite literally come true. The title song also expresses a personal dream of love fulfilled, and of the desire for peace in the world: "There is no beauty without a concept of goodness." (That sentence is a free translation of the title song's refrain.) All the Arabic lyrics on the album "Ahlam" were written by Nesrine's mother, a poet whose main occupation is as a doctor. "We’re in touch all the time," explains the singer. "An intergenerational connection like this needs constant feeding and watering!"

Nesrine sings in English, French and Arabic. She can be soft and hypnotic – as in "Bye Bye", chanson-esque – in "Le Temps" or sing pop songs such as "The World is Blue" in a duet with herself. "Music is my exorcism" is the motto of "Bye Bye" – music to drive out the demons. And the lyric: “Spending days and years looking for my identity/ I guess I have to find it within a community" – suggests that this trio itself might well represent the community she is referring to. The astonishingly varied sounds of the classically trained cellist Matthieu Saglio – who also works with loop pedals, and the sometimes fiery, sometimes very delicate percussion by David Gadea constitute the virtuoso flamenco/jazz basis of this band.

People with a liking for the genre-busting music of artists such as Anouar Brahem, Dhafer Youssef or Ibrahim Maalouf are going to love NES. NES are not hemmed in by categories or language barriers. Their songs are full of grace and emotion, born and nurtured by the sun in the cultural melting pot of Valencia. ACT
Tracklist :
1        Ahlam    4:47
2        You Made It Hard For Me    3:38
3        Houzni    4:59
4        Bye Bye    4:28
5        Allouane    4:55
6        Laisse-Moi Entrer    3:19
7        The World Is Blue    4:47
8        Le Temps    3:42
9        Happy NES    3:05
10        Prière    3:59
Credits :
The art in music: Cover art by Philip Taaffe: Asuka Nimbus, 2013, ACT Art Collection, Berlin
Nesrine Belmokh - Voice & Cello
Matthieu Saglio - Cello & Vocals
David Gadea - Percussion

NILS LANDGREN FUNK UNIT — Raw 'Celebrating 30 Years (2024) FLAC (tracks), lossless

More to the album:
The year 1994 marks the birth of the Funk Unit. When I got the offer from Siggi Loch to join his new label ACT, the first thing he did was to change the original band name Unit to Funk Unit. When I asked why, he answered: ”because you play funk” – and right he was. The rest is history. After 30 years of albums, touring and everything connected to it, I thought it would be great to go somewhere special for our 30th anniversary recording session. I happen to have a dear friend, Johan Lundgren, who used to be my trombone student lightyears ago, and he, together with another friend, Fredrik Thomander, built a fantastic Recording Studio in Palma on the island of Mallorca. Wouldn’t it be a great opportunity for us all, after all these years together, to record the album in a relaxed setting, being able to fully concentrate on our task? To make an album celebrating our 30-year history as a funk band from Sweden.

I presented the idea to my fellow band members, and they all loved it. So did Andreas Brandis, head of the ACT label, my musical home where all my albums have been released since 1994 – twelve of them with Funk Unit, this one included. So now all I had to do was to book the flights, the studio, find accommodation for us all and figure out a way to finance the stay. Oh, there was one more little thing. We all had to write songs for the album. As we met for rehearsals before leaving for the island of Mallorca, no one knew what was written and by whom. I had worked hard in my spare time though, coming in with five songs. So anyway, we started from scratch, listening to each others’ demos and then went on making them sound like us. All of us contributed and it was really great to hear our own compositions come to life.

On landing in Palma on my birthday February 15th at 2 pm, we went straight to the studio to set up and get the sound ready for the recordings to start. We just could not wait. Much of the setup had already been done by the studio crew and a few devoted volunteers and sooner than anyone thought possible, we could start to record, with the amazing sound engineer Shades leading the whole operation. From that moment on, we all knew that this was going to be a special album. Everything fell into place. The vibe in the studio, the sound, how the guys in the band played, the food being served in the breaks, how the coffee on the rooftop tasted and the generous dinners after finishing up for the day. To finance the recordings, we had decided to give in-house concerts the last two evenings after recording. Although it meant even longer days for everyone, it was a wonderful feeling to get the chance to test some of the music we had recorded in front of a live audience sitting almost in our laps. It was so rewarding to get feedback from the people that came to our shows. On top of that, we had a film team lead by our dear friend Dan Sermand documenting the whole thing.

We all left the island February 20th with a sense of deep satisfaction, knowing that we had done our very best and that our best might be more than just good enough. Only one man stayed behind in Palma: Magnum. Aside from being a badass bass player and singer, he is also the one person at my side, who has experienced the whole Funk Unit journey from Live in Stockholm till today. We had decided to mix the album in the same studio and Shades was not available until a week later. I believe Magnum had a good time, both hangin’ and working with master Shades. The result is this album Raw. Our honest and simple way to create handmade music and to make it enjoyable for both body and soul. We are not just a band. We are Nils Landgren Funk Unit. ACT
Tracklist :
1        Raw 3:06
Written-By – Nils Landgren
2        If You Like It 4:14
Written-By – Petter Bergander
3        In Your Skin 4:50
Written-By – Andy Pfeiler
4        On the One 3:41
Written-By – Jonas Wall
5        Funky Feet 3:06
Written-By – Robert Ikiz
6        Bea's Bag 3:23
Written-By – Nils Landgren
7        Believe Everyday 4:37
Written-By – Magnum Coltrane Price
8        Slam Dunk 3:28
Written-By – Nils Landgren
9        Raspberry Jam 4:05
Written-By – Nils Landgren
10        Family 4:08
Written-By – Pfeiler, Price
11        Walker 3:08
Written-By – Jonas Wall
12        Los Olivos 3:11
Written-By – Nils Landgren
Credits :
Nils Landgren - Trombone, Vocals
Magnum Coltrane Price - Bass, Vocals
Andy Pfeiler - Guitar, Vocals
Jonas Wall - Tenor Saxophone, bg vocals
Petter Bergander - Keyboards, bg vocals
Robert Ikiz - Drums, bg vocals

EDMAR CASTAÑEDA & GRÉGOIRE MARET — Harp vs. Harp (2019) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

„Blues-leaning harmonica star Grégoire Maret and guitar-like Colombian jazz harpist Edmar Castañeda stir Breezy, Pat Methenyesque swingers, ardent ballads, and deep-toned, slow tango.“-The Guardian (GB)

Harmonica player Grégoire Maret, born in Geneva in Switzerland and harpist Edmar Castañeda from Bogota in Colombia are two remarkable musicians. The strong musical affinity between them that comes across so vividly in “Harp vs. Harp” is no accident, not least because their backstories are so uncannily similar. Each of them came from his respective country as a callow teenager, and settled in New York. They have not merely survived, each individually, in the often unforgiving creative cauldron of New York’s musical life; each has established a reputation at the absolute top of the game, working on a regular, long-term basis with the best in the business.

Each of them has rewritten the rulebook for his respective instrument, both of them unusual in jazz; Castañeda and Maret have re-defined what the harp and the harmonica are capable of. As Herbie Hancock has written of Grégoire Maret: “There's no one else out there that comes close on the harmonica and he rivals the best on any instrument.” Grégoire was a member of the Pat Metheny Group, receiving a Grammy for Best Contemporary Jazz Album, and has also played in the bands of Marcus Miller and Herbie Hancock. Maret has worked with Cassandra Wilson for most of a decade, and she notes that when he plays, audiences are invariably “transformed...transported with a sweet yet powerful intensity to a higher plane.”

In the early stages of Edmar Castañeda’s career, Paquito D’Rivera was his mentor and his key advocate. D’Rivera says of the harpist: “He is an enormous talent,” with “the versatility and the enchanting charisma of a musician who has taken his harp out of the shadow to become one of the most original musicians from the Big Apple.” The harp Castañeda plays is the arpa llanera, and creates astonishing textural variety and rhythmic variety with it. The instrument with its 34 strings has a wide tonal range, and Castañeda brings huge energy to it. He has been involved in collaborations, for example with John Scofield, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Marcus Miller and John Patitucci, Hamilton de Holanda, Ivan Lins… With this range of musical partners at the highest level, it is unsurprising that his attitude to collaboration is open and positive:”I like to take the risk on mixing harp with anything - usually it’s great what comes out!”

Maret and Castañeda met for the first time at the Monte-Carlo Jazz Festival where they were both invited as guests on a project led by Marcus Miller. Grégoire Maret recalls the first time he heard the harpist: “I was mesmerized by what he did on the instrument. Musically it felt fresh and beautiful - it didn’t have the feel of novelty for its own sake at all. We knew that we had to do something together.” And Castañeda remembers thinking: “Wow! This guy is so passionate about his instrument.” So it was not long before Castañeda started to invite Maret to work on projects. They even went on one trip to Colombia, where Gregoire was a guest with my quartet in Teatro Mayor in Bogotá, and went up and stayed in the hills around Nocaima, where Castañeda had grown up. Noting that Maret is also from a mountainous region, Castañeda remarks: “We connected right away in the mountains.”

By the time they decided to record, they had already done several performances as a duo, so the choices of repertoire fell into place easily. There are themes running through the album. Three of the eight tracks, “Blueserinho”, “Manha de Carnaval” and “Santa Morena” (with star guest Bela Fleck, another musician who has transformed his instrument), are inspired by Brazilian music. “I grew up with the blues and fell in love with Brazilian music,” says Maret. There are spiritual themes too: “Acts” with guest vocalist Andrea Tierra, and “No Fear” are a pair of tunes inspired respectively by strong religious faith and the need to conquer fear. There are two quiet, nostalgic numbers. Maret says of his composition “Hope”: “There was a lot of fire, I wanted to help us settle.” Another gentle song is Charlie Haden’s “Our Spanish Love Song”, with strong associations to both Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Pat Metheny, with whom, respectively, Castañeda and Maret have both worked a lot together. Castañeda describes the tango “Romance de Barrio” affectionately as “a song Andrea Tierra just loves to sing.”

Castañeda says he thinks of Maret above all as a “Una persona segura”, and the total empathy, confidence, trust between the players is in evidence throughout this album. On every track, the ease with which tunes settle, the common sense of pacing, and that sixth sense of when and how to land and to end together are completely palpable. Two men from mountainous regions have made a remarkable ascent. Breathe in the clear air, take in the marvellous view, and just enjoy the irresistible sounds. ACT
Tracklist :
1        Blueserinho 4:55
Composed By – Gregoire Maret
2        Acts 6:37
Composed By – Edmar Castaneda
Lyrics By – Andrea Tierra
3        No Fear 7:31
Composed By – Edmar Castaneda
4        Hope 6:59
Composed By – Gregoire Maret
5        Romance De Barrio 5:44
Composed By – Aníbal Troilo
Lyrics By – Homero Manzi
6        Santa Morena 4:51
Composed By – Jacob Do Bandolim
7        Our Spanish Love Song 6:06
Composed By – Charlie Haden
8        Manhã De Carnaval 4:26
Composed By – Luiz Bonfá
Credits :
Edmar Castaneda - Llanera harp
Grégoire Maret - Chromatic harmonica & Chord harmônica

Guests:
Béla Fleck - Banjo
Andrea Tierra - Vocals

PETER ERSKINE _ NGUYÊN LÊ _ MICHEL BENITA — E _ L _ B (2001) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Although there is close interplay between the three musicians and drummer Peter Erskine gets top billing, this set is primarily of interest due to the versatility of guitarist Nguyên Lê. Lê's playing ranges from a lazy introspective style similar to Bill Frisell to fiery and rockish improvising. The 11 group originals generally lack any memorable melodies and instead set moods in which the musicians improvise together. Despite the talk of the group being a democracy, Lê is mostly in the lead, with bassist Michel Benita having a fair number of solos and Erskine being in a supportive role. Much of this set is overly sleepy, leaving listeners waiting for something to happen but, despite the high musicianship of the musicians, little does. Scott Yanow
Tracklist :
1        ZigZag    5:56
 Nguyên Lê
2        Autumn Rose    6:39
 Peter Erskine
3        Pong    4:47
 Nguyên Lê
4        Country Boy    4:14
 Michel Benita
5        Now Or Never    3:59
 Peter Erskine
6        Sao Sen    6:14
 Nguyên Lê
7        Pirates    3:43
 Michel Benita
8        Meanwhile    6:33
 Peter Erskine
9        Bee    5:36
 Nguyên Lê
10        Bass Desires    5:17
 Peter Erskine
11        Free At Last    5:29
 Michel Benita
Credits :
Nguyên Lê - Guitar
Michel Benita - Bass
Peter Erskine - Drums