The multitude of projects and roles that the man himself has had over the past 30 years or so are too numerous to list here, but since the unit was started back in 1992, they have managed to record nine albums, all strongly rooted in the funk, but with a wide variety of influences from many other genres. Although the members in the unit have varied greatly over time (R.I.P. Esbjörn Svensson), they’ve still managed to create a distinct sound and style that suits them well.

Jazz and funk improvisation has a stronger presence on “Funk For Life” than the previous albums released since 2000, and six of the twelve tracks are instrumental, some of them close to the 8 minute mark — letting the groove lock and then flow freely, allowing ample space for solos is something these highly skilled performers should do more often! I think that was the main reason it took some time for this record to grow on me, but it really has over the past few weeks since its release.

Nils and long time unit collaborator Magnum Coltrane Price are lead singers on the remaining tracks, with the exception of the uptempo Moog bass driven Tower Of Power inspired song “Finish What You Started”, one of the many standouts on the album. The rather laid-back atmosphere that permeates it all, is nicely balanced out by the lively and organic production that really captures the feeling of extensive studio jam sessions recorded and released for our listening pleasure.

Homepage: Funk For Life | Nils Landgren

Purchase & audio samples: Amazon.com (digital download)

Update: A review of the album has now been posted here.

Make no mistake, these twelve uptempo funk and soul tracks with a blues ballad thrown in for good measure, are all produced with a very smooth and contemporary sound typical of the time, but the core band is tight, the melodies are catchy, and with plenty of lush horn, string and vocal arrangements throughout, the end product bears no marks of being a one-off project.

Who knew that a bunch of unknown (to me) young Swedish musicians could produce something of this caliber, but given the skill and history of some of their peers like Nils Landgren, Jan Lundgren, Esbjörn Svensson and many others, it kind of makes sense in some way. To this day, I have never met a single person, from Sweden or anywhere else, who have ever heard about this band, and I think that they deserve a better fate…

This album has become so obscure that you are lucky if you can acquire a used copy on eBay, and because of that, you can download it directly from here. If anyone finds a way to legally purchase the album, or for some other reason it should be removed, please let us know asap.

Download link: Newtone – “Newtone” (104MB zip).

Homepage: Not available.

Purchase & audio samples: Not available – this album is out of print.

New Jamiroquai album and tour in 2010

According to the fansite funkin.com: “In an interview, Jamiroquai drummer Derrick McKenzie revealed that Jamiroquai have signed a deal with Universal Music. He also said that the band have recorded more than 40 new tracks, most of the new tracks have been recorded live – i.e., all the band in the studio playing together, and not just invidual tracks layered on top of one another. The new album is expected ‘middle of next year, which is to coincide with a tour.’” Read more…

New Stuart Zender funk(?) project and another Azur track released

Several posts on his official site and tweets from the man himself confirms that he has been in the studio working on a new funk project called ROOH (Running Out Of Heroes) together with former Jamiroquai keyboard player Toby Smith and Bluey from Incognito among others. Also, another track from the D’Angelo collaboration project Azur has been released. Read more…

New Ronny Jordan album ready

His latest album “The Rough and The Smooth” is finished according to his official homepage, but no release date has been confirmed yet.

New Nils Landgren Funk unit album

Below is the full post from his latest e-mail newsletter:

“Ok friends, When you read this it is october and autumn in Sweden and it is 2009. The Funk Unit is still alive and kickin.. like never before!

After the platinumselling “Licence to Funk” Cd with friends like Ray Parker Jr and Ida Sand, the band has been touring all over Europe, waiting for the inspiration to come for the next album. Suddenly it was all there, with the idea to make a collaboration with MSF Sweden -Doctors without Borders and World famous photographer Mattias Klum on a project in Kibera Nairobi , the biggest slum city in Afrika.

The idea is to give children a chance to find a better life through music, the universal language of the world. We recorded the album in Berlin in June 2009 and went to Kibera Nairobi end of september to finish what we had started and with the help of MSF-Doctors without borders , we reached our first goal which was to get a glimpse of the work of MSF and to meet with young people and make music together. What a joy it was! We brought instruments for the kids to keep, some from us and the rest thanks to YAMAHA Sweden

You will be able to find the result on our new CD ” Funk for Life” to be released beginning of march 2010 together with the video for the title track. A TV Documentary will follow as well. For each album sold, 1 EUR will go direct to the Funk Unit-Klum-MSF project in Kibera Nairobi Kenya. You´ll find new pics to watch while waiting for the real stuff to show up, it will be worth the wait! when the album is out, Please make sure to get your own copy. It will make a big difference for those in Kibera who have nothing!

Keep up the good Funk! Love, Nils“