Nils Landgren Raw

That music is close to the heart of Swedish world class trombonist Nils Landgren can be heard in every single note of his playing - whether with his Funk Unit, his duos with Esbjörn Svensson or his ballad albums.
His band Funk Unit soon get into to a rootsy, raw groove with kicking tracks such as "Funk For Life" and "Finish What You Started". Tightly honed funk nuggets have been lovingly crafted by this gifted bunch of scandinavian souleros, it's all here blistering trombone, deep in the pocket drumming, crisp and choice guitar melded together by floaty keyboards.
Nils voice sounds on it too and the vocal harmonies that weave in and out of his compositions really add a touch of class to this already funk enflamed flagship. Highlight for me is "Matutu" the dirty synth, reminiscent of funkadelic really steals the show and Nils treated trombone just adds its own special flava to this bangin' broth!

The debut release of a Scandinavian singer has seldom been as surprising as that of the Swedish vocalist Ida Sand two years ago with her album Meet Me Around Midnight (ACT 9716-2). It simply didn’t sound at all like a typical Scandinavian record. What the critics and the public heard was, “the most soulful white female singer to come along in some time” – earthy, tart, deep black, and authentically bound to gospel and blues. Beside this, another basic difference to a lot of other singers is that Ida Sand plays piano, and her singing and piano playing go hand in hand.