Love of My Life
Nils Landgren celebrates his 70th birthday with Love of My Life.
The new album is available as a double LP, limited red double LP, and CD.
Strictly limited: the red double LP is released in only 500 copies worldwide!
Love of My Life
An album that reflects not only the scale of Nils Landgren's achievement, but also the astonishingly wide range of roles his life in music has embraced. As one of the most successful European jazz musicians of the past few decades, Nils Landgren has long been more than a trombonist or singer: he is a connector, a mentor, a bridge-builder. Recorded with close friends and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under the opulent arrangements of Vince Mendoza, the album spans from Landgren’s own tender compositions to reimagined works by Cat Stevens, Leonard Bernstein, Herbie Hancock, and others - yet it remains unmistakably Landgren: open, warm, and full of humanity.
“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,” Nils says. That spirit of curiosity and connection shines through every note.
Love of My Life is both a milestone and a mirror: the sound of an artist who, after a lifetime of making music with love, continues to share that love with the world.
ACT Shop exclusive merch – made for the fans!
Mr. Red Horn Socks and Tote-Bags
Click on the image to go to the product.
Nils 70 – Anniversary Special:
To celebrate Nils Landgren’s 70th birthday, fans have the chance to receive an exclusive Mr. Red Horn cotton tote bag as a gift — with the purchase of the new album Love of My Life and a minimum order value of €70.
How to get the Mr. Red Horn tote bag:
- Purchase the album Love of My Life
- Reach a minimum total order value of €70 in the shop
- Add the Mr. Red Horn tote bag to your shopping cart
- Enter the code NILS70 in the cart
- The discount will be applied → the bag will be free!
!! Important: The bag is not added automatically. Please make sure to add it to your cart yourself!
Exclusive for collectors!
A rare collector's item: A test pressing is the very first sample disc of an album and is used for quality control before the final pressing. It does not always match the sound of the later release exactly, which makes each copy a distinctive collectible with its own history. Every test pressing is a limited edition: ideal for collectors and for anyone who appreciates jazz vinyl, rarities and exclusive editions.
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 of the orchestra. 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 or has seen him live 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 Hamburg Symphony Orchestra 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.
“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..."
