When two old friends are reminiscing, talking to each other, laughing or crying together, talking about the past as if it were yesterday, solidifying an already airtight relationship, a listener can sometimes feel awkward, as if they are interfering... yet this is far from the case on Kristallen. The Swedish Nils Landgren/Jan Lundgren duo even goes out of its way to share this intimacy with the listener. This relaxed ‘chamber’ jazz that the trombonist-singer and pianist carve out on this superb duo album does a lot to build bridges between various places and times. Swedish folklore (the traditional Hornlåtar and Värmlandsvisan) features alongside the Great American Songbook (The Nearest of You and Didn’t We) and even The Beatles (I Will and Norwegian Wood). A milestone volume in which Jan Lundgren pays homage to two of his essential pianists with covers of Country by Keith Jarrett and Abdullah Ibrahim’s The Wedding. A Scandinavian hour full of controlled but nonetheless emotional music illuminating with originality a certain tradition of American jazz. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz