By Benny White

For those of you who caught a glimpse of Nils Landgren’s Funk Unit (the hottest funk band in Europe according to German press), headlining the Sunday slot at the Heiniken Jazz Festival a while back, and wondering who the slapping and rapping frontline bass player was, there’s good news. He might very well be back to Thailand before long if everything goes according to plan.

Magnum Coltrane Price, the son of Detroit jazz musician Elvin Price, has been part of the Nils Landgren Funk Unit since its origin and has through extensive touring and sharing the frontline of the band, gained exposure to some of the heavies in the international music business. After an outstanding first performance in Bangkok, following the end of Funk Unit’s European tour, Yamaha (Japan) has been banging on his door asking him when he’ll be in their neck of the woods showing his licks’n tricks to chop hungry bass players.

Price isn’t just a slappin’ master groover, he’s also an accomplished composer with a well anchored career.

It’s ten below zero and a snow blizzard on the other side of the rim-frosted window as we’re sitting in a coffee house in his hometown Stockholm, Sweden, talking about Funk Unit’s last show in Bangkok.

“Yeah, that was a good gig; great production too. We had a really good stage sound and an awesome lighting rig so hats off to the production team (Mr. Team).”

Magnum isn’t just committed to Funk unit. He’s got quite a few irons in the fire himself. As a composer, artist, producer, businessman – running Devious Recordings – and a bass player in Funk Unit, you could say he’s got more than his hands full. “Ha-ha ! It’s busy alright but I enjoy it. Stockholm is a very competitive place with lots of skilled musicians so it keeps you on your toes so to speak…”

One might wonder why Sweden, a country with a population of barely nine million people is such a dominant role player in the universal music industry.

“What else is there to do when you’ve got cold weather eight months out of the year? People stay in and play.” Magnum says with a grin.

Sweden is and has been a Mecca for most of the world’s greats over the years. Miles Davis, Oscar Peterson, John Coltrane, and Ella Fitzgerald would frequently play there in their respective heydays. Now it’s often mentioned as the place with the “Midnight Sun Gigs” among today’s contemporary musicians.

“An awesome place to be in the summer,” says veteran Steve Lukather (guitar player in TOTO) who has toured and played the midnight sun gigs many times.

He adds: “It’s a must place to play during the summer!”

Another band that went to Sweden (in the 70’s) and made it a home base after a successful European tour was the Thai band “The Impossibles”. A “Blood Sweat and Tears” inspired group that also recorded the funk-nugget album “Hot Pepper” there.
“That’s actually coincidentally very funny” says Magnum. “Here we are talking about how much I enjoyed our first gig in Thailand and now you’re telling me that in the 70’s, The Impossibles – from Thailand – were inspired by Blood Sweat and Tears.
We played the same bill as Blood Sweat and Tears that evening!!”

The 70’s has served as “the old school source of inspiration” for many of today’s funk players.

“Yeah, man. A very funky period of time musically; it was way before my time but I have learned an incredible amount of stuff by just going back and listening to the “old school” players. It’s interesting how the funk of the 70’s has gradually changed its axis. I mean today’s stuff is still funky but it’s a bit heavier with a tone of hip-hop and house in the mix of the music stew. I have pretty much combined everything that I liked from the 70’s with the more contemporary style of today and found a pretty cool pocket.”

Not surprising then that there’s little chance that this bass ace has any empty space in the calendar, even between Funk Unit’s tours.

“I stay pretty busy producing other artists, but I’m also currently working on my next coming album which I hope to support through touring after Funk Unit gets back from our next North American tour.”

When asked if he’d like to come back and visit the music lovers in the Land of Smiles, he quickly replies: “You can bank on it my friend. Bangkok is top of my list!” before he puts on his coat and hurries out through the snow on his way to an evening rehearsal.

This entry was posted Monday, March 31st, 2008 and was filed under Jungle News, Alternative Artists. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.