“Why another Christmas album?” asks Swedish trombonist Landgren in this record’s liner notes. It was a question I found myself asking when this album dropped through my letter box. Less charitably I also asked “Why another Nils Landgren album?” . The formulaic “Licence To Funk” was hardly one of my favourite releases of 2007. 

However I am beginning to warm to Landgren. He makes a significant contribution to Viktoria Tolstoy’s magnificent ACT album “My Russian Soul” and this Christmas offering exhibits a warmth and charm capable of stirring the flintiest of hearts, even mine.

Landgren’s first “Christmas With my Friends” album was released two years ago and was a huge commercial success in both Sweden and Germany. It was therefore inevitable that there would be a follow up.

This latest offering features a change in personnel. The core band now consists of Landgren plus saxophonist Jonas Knutsson, guitarist Johan Norberg and German bassist Eva Kruse from the trio {em}. They are joined by vocalists Ida Sand, Sharon Dyall, Jessica Pilnas and Jeanette Kohn.

Knutsson, Norberg and Kruse are the instrumental heart of the recently released “Skaren;Norrland III”, a wonderful blend of Swedish folk tunes and jazz influences reviewed elsewhere on this site.
They bring much of the Norrland sensibility to this recording which is laid back and unhurried and positively benefits from the absence of drums.

There are fifteen items here ranging from Norrland style instrumentals to soulful vocal interpretations of both traditional carols and more secular Christmas songs. Even the most familiar material has a different slant placed on it.

The album commences with a soulful vocal duet between Landgren and Pilnas on Thad Jones and Alec Wilder’s “A Child Is Born”. The arrangement is paced by Sand’s piano and also features a warmly plangent contribution from Landgren on trombone.

The following “Maria Gar I Tornesnar” is a beautiful folk melody that could have come straight off the Norrland album. It features Landgren’s trombone and Knutsson’s soprano (both given a dash of echo) together with Norberg’s zither like Finnish kantele. The music is a perfect summation of the frozen north and is likely to appeal to fans of Jan Garbarek.

The kantele also features on Norberg’s own “Kristallen” which features him duetting with Norrland colleague Knutsson in appropriately crystalline manner.

“Ding Dong Merrily On High” is one of the items likely to be over familiar to English listeners. It is given an elegant slowed down treatment led by Ida Sand’s voice and piano and featuring the rounded tones of Landgren’s trombone. The whole thing works surprisingly well.

Two other familiar pieces “Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem” and “In Dulce Jubilo” are treated as instrumentals adding Landgren’s trombone to the Norrland duo of Knutsson and Norberg. Delivered in the characteristic Norrland style these new interpretations make a refreshing change from the more familiar versions of these songs.

Landgren also turns his attention to pieces of more formal church music such as “Himmel (Psalm 130)” and “Christmas Hymn (Psalm 112)”. Both are stately duets between Landgren and guitarist Norberg.

Of the other vocal items Sharon Dyall demonstrates her versatility on two very different pieces, Norberg’s arrangement of the European carol “Det Ar En Ros Utsprungen” and the gospel tinged closer “Peace On Earth”, the latter a duet with Sand on piano.

Jeanette Kohn tackles the carols “Veni Veni Emanuel” and “Maria Wiegenlied” her clear, pure voice possessed of an almost operatic quality.

Jessica Pilnas returns for a soulful delivery of Donny Hathaway’s “This Christmas” in an arrangement led by Sand on piano and featuring Knutsson making a rare excursion on tenor.

Ida Sand delivers a beautiful solo performance of John Rutter’s “Candlelight Carol” accompanying herself at the piano.

All four singers are featured on a choral version of the Swedish carol “Jul Jul Stralande Jul” 

“Christmas With My Friends II” has proved to be lot more enjoyable than I first thought it would.
In an age when much of Christmas has pretty much been repackaged and sold back to us by America it’s good to hear some Christmas music that draws almost exclusively on European traditions.

Landgren’s album is lovingly and carefully put together and provides a well balanced programme that avoids most of the seasonal clichés. Exquisitely played and sung and produced with pinpoint clarity by Norberg it has plenty going for it. Although not as essential a purchase as the recent Norrland album if you want some music for Christmas you could do a lot worse than this.

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