pianist
Robert Mitchell (left) with Gilles Peterson in October of 2008.]]
Gilles Peterson (born 28 September c.1964 in
Caen, France, born to a mother from Paris and a father from Zürich), is a
DJ,
record collector and record label owner from
London,
UK. Through his labels
Acid Jazz,
Talkin' Loud, and latterly
Brownswood Recordings, he has been associated with the careers of well-known artists of the 1990s such as
Erykah Badu,
Roni Size and
Jamiroquai. He is also well known as a radio DJ.
After starting out on pirate radio, and having shows on various legal London-based radio stations, most noticeably including Kiss FM dance music station, he was recruited to the BBC's youth-oriented Radio 1 in 1998. Peterson is known for his eclectic musical selections, and has even been occasionally mentioned as the new John Peel. However whilst the late John Peel had an "anything goes" range of tastes displayed on his show, Peterson's focus has always been Jazz music, generally Modern Jazz, with a strong emphasis on its translation to a club environment, mixed with associated music styles.
Widely acclaimed as a musical tastemaker, he spreads his influence on music listeners around the world mostly through his Worldwide radio show on BBC Radio 1 which is also broadcast live on the Radio 1 website and available for audio streaming online for seven days from broadcast. He also does another international version of the show which gets syndicated to radio stations all over the world, such as FM4 in Austria, Radio Nova in France, B92 in Serbia and Radio Helsinki in Finland. What's more, he broadcasts his WW15 show at drivetime on Japan's largest commercial radio station J-Wave. Parallel to this, his frequent DJing gigs around the world also have cemented a worldwide following.
History
Attending
The John Fisher School in the late 1970's and early 1980s, Gilles Peterson was already known on the London circuit as a
DJ specialising in the new breed of "
acid jazz", drawing on the jazz,
funk and
Latin fusions of the 1970s. First heard as a DJ on the London pirate radio station
Solar, he went on to host the show '
Mad On Jazz' on
BBC Radio London between 1986 and 1987, then ran a notable club night in
Camden.
Dingwalls
That notable club, and one of Gilles Peterson's best remembered club sessions, was
Talkin' Loud Sayin' Something at the old
Dingwalls club in Camden, North West London which ran from the late 1980s until March 1991. The sessions were characterised by
jazz dancers in suits hats and spats, heavyweight
jazz dance classics including tracks from
Yusef Lateef,
Pharoah Sanders,
Freddie Hubbard,
Airto and
Herbie Hancock and the anthemic 'n the fast lane' by
Jean-Luc Ponty; but the jazz was fused with
hip-hop and the more experimental tracks. Gilles played alongside fellow London DJ
Patrick Forge at most of the Dingwalls' sessions, as well as separately at many other underground club nights and music weekenders. Every year, Gilles and Patrick Forge return to Dingwalls for a sell-out reunion session.
On October 8, 2006, both Gilles & Patrick played at a one-off show at the old site of Dingwalls (now a Jongleurs comedy club). A compilation album of popular songs from the club was also released at the same time, titled Sunday Afternoon At Dingwalls.
Jazz FM
In March 1990 Peterson became a
disc jockey on London's first ever dedicated jazz station
102.2 Jazz FM. The three hour show was stripped into sections including the '
Samba 60' and the 'Vibrazone' and artists as diverse as
Justin Warfield,
Sérgio Mendes and
Leon Thomas would all appear on the same playlist. He was forced to leave the station after making anti-war comments during the
1st Gulf War.
Kiss 100 FM
September 1990 saw London
pirate dance music station
Kiss 100 FM become legal when it acquired a licence and started to broadcast from
Holloway Road in North London.
Patrick Forge was then given the space to create his own show, with the two DJs continuing to work together at Dingwalls until the 'last dance' on 3 March 1991.
Gilles then moved over to Kiss FM himself, having been fired by Jazz FM for making anti-war comments during the first Gulf War. In his shows on Kiss FM he played acts as diverse as Josh Wink, Gang Starr and Horace Silver in the space of a single programme. He was then hired by BBC Radio 1 in 1998 and still takes great pride in the show's concept of 'joining the dots' between different styles of music.
Radio 1
From 1998 to the present, through his BBC show
Worldwide - which was originally produced by long time collaborator
Benji B, Karen P (
Folded Wing), Beccy Grierson and currently Alex Kenning - Peterson has continued to stretch the musical boundaries. The show has always highlighted both new, but more importantly for the audience it is supposed to serve, older and often very rare records from the late-1950's to 1980's. In fact every three months or so, Gilles dedicates a whole show to older vinyl releases in a special version of his show he subtitles a
Brownswood Basement, and also two associated compilation albums with the same name containing older personal classics have been released on the
US label
Ubiquity Records's offshoot
Luv N' Haight. In common with both
Brownswood labels he has been associated with, the name comes from the road in North London his house was —effectively now just a place he uses to store his huge record collection— and where he compiles releases drawn from his collection in the basement.
In August 2004 the show moved from Wednesday (midnight til 2am) to an earlier Sunday slot (11:00 to 01:00) with a spectacular live outside broadcast from The Big Chill at Eastnor Castle Herefordshire featuring Bugz In The Attic performing a DJ set, and interviews with house DJ Tom Middleton and Mr. Scruff.
One of the highlights of the new format BBC Radio 1 show was the special sessions from the BBC's Maida Vale Studios. These have included artists such as Roots Manuva, Bjork and the Floating Points Ensemble.
Radio shows and DJing gigs continue to fuse hip-hop, jazz and soul with the newer styles of broken beat and nu jazz alongside the odd dubstep and drum and bass track. He has also released numerous DJ mix and compilation albums. Peterson is a regular at the Southport Music Weekender, and even curates his own annual music festival in Sete, on France's Mediterranean coast.
In September 2006, Peterson's show on Radio 1 was moved from Sunday night to Wednesday night (more precisely the early hours of Thursday morning), 02:00 to 04:00 (GMT). The first show included a live appearance from Lupe Fiasco. The show is currently broadcast live between 2am-4am on Wednesday mornings.
In 2002 he released a compilation album titled "Impressed with Gilles Peterson," featuring rare and forgotten about British Jazz from the 1950-1960's, that Peterson had collected over the years. This was met with critical acclaim and led to many of the records being re-released to a new audience. This in turn led to a series of concerts featuring some of the artists, including Stan Tracy, and a documentary about the history of British Jazz - Jazz Britannia. This series was so successful it led to further Britannia projects (Soul, Folk etc).
Annually, Peterson picks his favourite records of the year, known as his Worldwide Winners, which listeners of his radio show can vote on via the Radio 1 website to get down to a final top-10 list of winners. In recent years, from 2004 onwards, this has been expanded into the Worldwide Winners Awards with an event held at a London club venue; Cargo in 2004 and onto the bigger Koko in Camden in 2005, with full outside broadcast coverage by Radio 1,
and expanded sections like "Best Clubnight", "Best Record Shop", "Best Compilation Album", and a special award called "The John Peel 'Play More Jazz' Award" given to an artist, often newcomer, who has displayed special noteworthy work over the year.
Record Labels
Gilles Peterson has been integrally linked with 3 record labels. In 1988 he and
Eddie Piller founded
Acid Jazz Records, an influential label whose roster included the
Brand New Heavies,
Jamiroquai,
Corduroy, the
James Taylor Quartet and
Snowboy. After growing disillusioned with the scene that grew up around the label, he went on to run
Talkin' Loud, enlisting the help of fellow DJ
Norman Jay who formed his own Global Village label.
The label drew its name from the James Brown track Talkin' Loud & Sayin' Nothing that had inspired the name of his club at Dingwalls. The roster of Talkin' Loud included Nuyorican Soul (a side project of the producers Masters At Work), Courtney Pine, MJ Cole, Young Disciples, Incognito, Terry Callier, The Roots, Galliano and Roni Size's project Reprazent. Courtney Pine, Young Disciples, MJ Cole & 4 Hero all received nominations for the Mercury Prize, with Reprazent winning the award in 1997.
Peterson's most recent record label, Brownswood Recordings, was launched in 2006. It was named after the road in North London where the house he used to live is, though he has since had to move out of after his record collection became too big, and which now acts as a warehouse for his enormous collection of vinyl records. To date the label has released records by British singer/songwriter Ben Westbeech, 45 piece live act The Heritage Orchestra, Japanese punk jazz band Soil & "Pimp" Sessions, Brooklyn based pianist Elan Mehler, jazz vocalist José James, five volumes of a soulful compilation album series called Brownswood Bubblers, and a special Cuban project - Havana Cultura - which saw Gilles travel to Havana to record at Egrem Studios with gifted jazz pianist Roberto Fonseca and a host of new Cuban talent. Taking on the role of Executive Producer, he recorded an album of new material (plus a handful of covers) entitled 'Gilles Peterson presents Havana Cultura'. Incidentally, this label should not be confused with Talkin' Loud, the previous label he was involved with, or indeed another imprint called Brownswood Records (note: Records NOT Recordings) which was used to release music from the United Future Organization as well as other Japanese associated projects.
Festivals
Peterson has made very many regular appearances at music festivals across the world including
Lovebox in east London,
The Big Chill in Hereford and the
Southport Weekender in the north west of England. Away from the UK he has appeared at the
Exit Festival in
Serbia and in 2005 the
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
Peterson and Freshly Cut, a French event production company from Montpellier, collaborated to create the Worldwide Festival. This started out as a small intimate festival during the summertime in the coastal town of Sète in France in 2006. It was expanded to three festivals, in London, Shanghai and Sète in 2007.
Dipping his toe into the world of production, Peterson has collaborated with Switch (DJ) in the past, but currently works with his engineer Simbad, remixing the likes of Saona, Keziah Jones and Raphael Gualazzi to date.
Discography
Jazz Juice Street Sounds 1985
Jazz Juice 2 Street Sounds 1985
Cal's Pals BGP Records 1987
Focus On Fusion BGP Records 1987
Focus On Fusion (Volume 2) BGP Records 1987
Jazz Juice 6 Street Sounds 1987
Acid Inc., The Best Of Funk Inc. BGP Records 1988
Acid Jazz And Other Illicit Grooves Polydor (Germany) 1988
Acid Jazz Vol. 1 BGP Records 1988
Acid Jazz Vol. 2 BGP Records 1988
Acid Jazz Vol. 3 BGP Records 1991
B&G; Party BGP Records 1988
Beat On (The Best Of The Blackbyrds) BGP Records 1988
Jazz Juice 7 Street Sounds 1988
The Best Of Azymuth BGP Records 1988
The Best Of Acid Jazz BGP Records 1989
Totally Wired Acid Jazz 1989
Totally Wired II Acid Jazz 1989
Acid Inc., The Best Of Funk Inc. BGP Records 1991
Brasil - Escola Do Jazz Toshiba EMI Ltd 1994
Brazilica! Talkin' Loud 1994
Talkin' Jazz Vol. 2: More Themes From The Black Forest Talkin' Loud, Polydor (Germany) 1994
Talkin' Jazz: Themes From The Black Forest Talkin' Loud 1994
Jazz Juice # 2 Beechwood Music, Street Sounds 1995
Jazz Juice # 3 Beechwood Music, Street Sounds 1995
Brazilica, Volume II Talkin' Loud 1997
Pozytywne Wibracje 1 [Brand New Acid Jazz Collection] I Hear Your Name PolyGram *Polska, STX Records (2) 1997
Max City Guide - London (12", Promo, Smplr) Motor Music 1998
Talkin' Headz - The Metalheadz Documentary The Metalheadz Documen... Manga *Entertainment Ltd, Palm Pictures 1998
INCredible Sound of Gilles Peterson INCredible 1999
Sound Of The City Vol. 2 - London Motor Music, Universal Jazz (Germany) 1999
Sound Of The City Vol. 2 - London Universal Jazz (Germany), Motor Music 1999
Gilles Peterson: Worldwide Programme 1 Talkin' Loud 2000
INCredible Sound Of Gilles Peterson Epic 2000
Gilles Peterson GP03 Trust The DJ 2002
Gilles Peterson Worldwide 2 Programme 2 Talkin' Loud 2002
Impressed With Gilles Peterson Universal Jazz (UK) 2002
Impressed With Gilles Peterson Universal Jazz (UK) 2002
Gilles Peterson Eclectic Sessions Vol. 2 Trust The DJ 2003
Gilles Peterson Worldwide 3 Talkin' Loud 2003
Southport Weekender suSU 2003
Gilles Peterson In Brazil Ether 2004
Gilles Peterson Worldwide Exclusives Talkin' Loud 2004
Gilles Peterson Worldwide Exclusives 1 (10", Promo) Talkin' Loud 2004
Gilles Peterson Worldwide Exclusives 2 (10", Promo) Talkin' Loud 2004
Gilles Peterson Worldwide Exclusives 3 (10", Promo) Talkin' Loud 2004
Gilles Peterson Worldwide Exclusives 4 (10", Promo) Talkin' Loud 2004
Impressed 2 with Gilles Peterson Universal Jazz (UK) 2004
Brasil - The Rhythm And Art Of Movement Nike, Inc. 2005
Gilles Peterson Digs America Luv N' Haight 2005
Gilles Peterson In Africa Ether 2005
Gilles Peterson Presents - The BBC Sessions (Volume 1) Ether 2005
Gilles Peterson Presents BBC Sessions Ether 2005
Petit Dejeuner Au Lit! Most Records 2005
Brownswood Bubblers Brownswood Recordings 2006
Gilles Peterson & Patrick Forge Present - Sunday Afternoon At Dingwalls Ether 2006
Gilles Peterson Back In Brazil Ether 2006
House Bash-Up Mix By Switch Because I Can Mixmag 2006
Pure Fire! A Gilles Peterson Impulse! Collection Impulse! 2006
The Kings Of Jazz (Promo) Rapster Records 2006
The Kings Of Jazz (Part B) Rapster Records 2006
Brownswood Bubblers Two Brownswood Recordings 2007
Fania DJ Series Gilles Peterson Fania Records 2007
Gilles Peterson In the House Defected 2008
Brownswood Bubblers Three Brownswood Recordings 2008
Brownswood Bubblers Four Brownswood Recordings 2009
Brazilika Far Out Recordings 2009
Brownswood Bubblers Five Brownswood Recordings 2010
Every Day Blue Note - compiled by Gilles Peterson Blue Note (Japan Only) 2010
Brownswood Electric Brownswood Recordings 2010
References
External links
Gilles Peterson biography on BBC Radio 1
Category:1964 births
Category:Living people
Category:British DJs
Category:British radio DJs
Category:British music industry executives
