4 Wheel Drive: Landgren | Wollny | Danielsson | Haffner
Nils Landgren trombone / vocals, Michael Wollny piano, Lars Danielsson bass, Wolfgang Haffner drums
As the band name suggest, each musician has an equal role in 4 Wheel Dive. Every member of this supergroup contributes their own compositions, and pop songs by Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, Phil Collins and Sting are turned inside out with imaginative solos and improvisations.
Nothing is too weird for trombonist/singer Nils Landgren: he can bring the house down with his Funk Unit or expand into the direction of sensitive ballads. Even Christmas songs are never boring with the Swedish musician, who collaborated with everyone from Maceo Parker to Esbjörn Svensson and from Roy Hargrove to Benny Anderson from ABBA!
From the beginning of his career, pianist Michael Wollny has been regarded as the future of jazz. What’s so remarkable is that in all that time he never compromised. His international breakthrough album Weltenraum is a surprisingly accessible mix of jazz, indie rock and film music with modern classical music by, among others, Hindemith, Varèse and Berg.
Swedish jazz bassist Lars Danielsson has collaborated with the likes of Scofield, Jack DeJohnette and Mike Stern, and he made his own albums with special guests such as John Abercrombie, Bill Evans and Kenny Wheeler. Similarly, German drummer Wolfgang Haffner has built an imoressive career playing with many greats, for example in the NDR Big Band.