Christmas 2020 will be unlike the Christmases of the past, because the Covid-19 crisis and social distancing have fundamentally changed the way we live. Maybe they will also make us yearn more for the true spirit and the joys of Christmas. As we reflect and contemplate on what is important to us, we know that we want to keep hold of our sense of friendship and community. We feel a strong imperative to reach out for whatever can bring joy to the world. And with that thought in mind, there can surely be very few people who can gift-wrap the Christmas season in music for us – and do so quite as naturally, effectively and magically – as Nils Landgren. It is all of fourteen years since this risen star of the trombone, charismatic singer and established luminary of the European jazz scene first gathered together his closest companions in a studio to make a "Christmas With My Friends" album and then take the group on tour with him. The project was successful right from the start: the German magazine Stern hailed the first album as "the most beautiful Christmas CD ever." So from that point on there was no looking back, and never the slightest doubt that Landgren and his friends would go on to repeat this special way of celebrating Christmas: they have continued to do so every other year. Legions of fans have welcomed the albums and tour concerts into their own ways of celebrating Christmas. In fact, "Christmas With My Friends" has now established itself as nothing less than a Christmas tradition in its own right.
