4 Wheel Drive II

Description

A stellar lineup for this explosive ensemble! Four is a winner: that's the unanimous opinion of critics and the public on the first album by the German-Swedish supergroup 4 Wheel Drive. The debut eponymous album by this band of bandleaders directly climbed to the top spot of the best-selling jazz albums in Germany in 2019. The media has been full of praise: "Four top-tier jazz musicians with pure joy in playing and a love of good pop music," said ZDF's "heutejournal" about this fiery and delightful group, which brings together trombonist/singer Nils Landgren, pianist Michael Wollny, bassist/cellist Lars Danielsson, and drummer Wolfgang Haffner. In "4 Wheel Drive II," it's clear that things have shifted into high gear from the start, with the pulsating rock-tinged opening track "Chapter II," straight from Wollny's compositional workshop. Landgren loves to make his trombone roar like a sports car engine. In the same dynamic vein, there are tracks like the album's closing number, "The Wheelers," by Danielsson, which, thanks to Haffner's agile brushwork, makes us feel like we're aboard a high-speed train, or the powerfully swinging "Spring Dance," by Wollny.