Nils Landgren’s 70th birthday is approaching – it will be on 15 February 2026 – and that provides a moment to reflect not only on the scale of his achievement, but also the astonishingly wide range of roles which his life in music has involved. He is one of the most successful European jazz musicians of the past few decades. He is not just a trombonist and singer but also a festival director, mentor, promoter, producer and builder of bridges. He has been awarded of the German Cross of Merit, the Sir George Martin Music Award and the Litteris et Artibus medal, the highest order for art and culture which the Swedish royal family can bestow. He is a tirelessly hard worker, playing up to 200 concerts in peak years. But perhaps most importantly, it is in his nature to be both optimistic and huge-hearted. Everything Nils Landgren does is imbued with love, whether it is for music, for his signature instrument – the red trombone – for the people alongside him on the stage or for those gathered together in front it…And also for his wife the actress Beatrice Järås to whom he has been married for 48 years. What all of this means is that the title of his latest album could not be more apt: ‘Love of My Life’.
“When I was young, I wanted to be a pop star… but one playing the trombone. Everyone told me: just forget it, take your place at the back row. But that was something I could never have accepted.”
Recorded with a band made up of close friends, plus the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, playing opulent arrangements by seven-time Grammy winner Vince Mendoza, Nils Landgren’s new album casts its net wide, from touching original compositions to songs by Cat Stevens, Leonard Bernstein, Kurt Weill, Herbie Hancock and also colleagues with whom he has worked such as Joe Sample and Ida Sand. This wide-ranging repertoire bears testament to Landgren’s remarkable capacity to bring all kinds of people together, to unite them and make things happen.
“The most important thing in music for me is: no pigeonholing. It’s always better to explore together a bit, to try to do some new things…”
As is so often the case with Nils Landgren, ‘Love of My Life’ also has something of the character of a musical family enterprise: he is accompanied by Sweden’s rising piano star Joel Lyssarides, double bass icon Lars Danielsson, drummer Robert Ikiz – also a permanent member of the Nils Landgren Funk Unit – and singer and long-time companion Ida Sand. For Nils Landgren, this is a lifelong dream come true. In the liner notes to the album, he writes: “Basically, I’m still the boy from the small Swedish ironworks town of Degerfors. I still can’t quite believe that I have been invited to make music with an entire symphony orchestra and some of my best friends.” Anyone who knows Nils Landgren will know that this statement has absolutely no false modesty about it; it is totally genuine.
“Many people say I’m down-to-earth. Even a small mount of fame can make things go completely wrong… My father told me: don’t elevate yourself above others. Keep your feet on the ground. That’s a very Swedish, Nordic attitude – you should never believe that you are better than others.”
Nils Landgren is exactly the same person onstage that he is away from it. After every concert, he takes the time to talk to each and every visitor, hug them, take photos, sign albums, sometimes for a few hours. He says: “I am strongly motivated to meet the audience. It gives you an incredible amount of energy.” That’s why, he says, he doesn’t have any hobbies. When he’s at home in the small village of Skillinge in southern Sweden, right by the sea, he likes to spend time with his wife Bea and practise the trombone in a wooden hut specially set up for this purpose, where his countless awards are also displayed. He also enjoys swimming in the Baltic Sea, even when the temperature is below ten degrees.
“I have no need of bungee jumping or extreme sports – every time I go on stage, it’s like free climbing. That’s quite enough for me.”
And that is why the Nils70 birthday concerts are likely to feel so much like family celebrations: Kicking off on 14 February at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg with his band, the ‘Hamburger Symphoniker’ and the ‘Love Of My Life’ programme, and then on 5 May at the Berlin Philharmonic – together with close friends such as Michael Wollny, Wolfgang Haffner, China Moses, Viktoria Tolstoy, members of the Berlin Philharmonic and many more. And actually, the whole of 2026 will be Nils Landgren Year: together with renowned regional orchestras, Nils Landgren will bring the ‘Love Of My Life’ programme to some of the most beautiful concert halls throughout Germany and Europe.
“I usually meet orchestras for rehearsals just the day before the concert. Most of the time, it’s just me and my trio – there’s not even a conductor. As always in jazz, it’s all about communication. I hope that the orchestral musicians understand my ideas… and if not, then I’ll just have to try to convince them.”
Pianist Michael Wollny once said that ‘with Nils, everything becomes easy. Landgren – it seems, at least in music – has no problems, no fears, there are only ever new opportunities to create something beautiful, perhaps even something magical in the moment. Behind this is a deep belief in goodness – not only the good in music, but also in people. And being convinced
that the individual can be effective in a world where one can quickly feel lost and powerless. “Seeing things positively gives you so much more strength to carry on,” says Nils Landgren. “And the love which you receive as a result can then be passed on… and then you find that even more has been added when it comes back…”
NILS LANDGREN FEAT. SWEDISH RADIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
LOVE OF MY LIFE
Nils Landgren vocals, trombone
The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Ulf Forsberg concertmaster
Joel Lyssarides piano
Lars Danielsson bass
Robert Ikiz drums
Ida Sand vocals, piano
