Gilles Peterson
Encyclopedia
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Through his labels Acid Jazz
Acid Jazz Records
Acid Jazz is a record label based in east London. It takes its name from acid jazz, a genre of jazz music. Alternative version states that the genre itself was named after the record label...
, Talkin' Loud
Talkin' Loud
Talkin' Loud is a record label started by Gilles Peterson at Phonogram in 1990 after he left Acid Jazz Records. The label name is based on Peterson's club night "Talkin' Loud And Sayin' Something", itself a reference to James Brown and Bobby Byrd's "Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing".The first...
, and latterly Brownswood Recordings
Brownswood Recordings
Brownswood Recordings is a London-based independent record label launched in 2006 by DJ Gilles Peterson.-Artists include:* Ben Westbeech.* The Heritage Orchestra.* Soil & "Pimp" Sessions.* José James.* Gilles Peterson.* Elan Mehler.* Ghostpoet....
, he has been associated with the careers of well-known artists of the 1990s such as Erykah Badu
Erykah Badu
Erica Abi Wright , better known by her stage name Erykah Badu , is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Her work includes elements from R&B, hip hop and jazz. She is best known for her role in the rise of the neo soul sub-genre, and for her eccentric, cerebral musical...
, Roni Size
Roni Size
Roni Size is a British record producer and DJ, who came to prominence in 1997 as the founder and leader of Reprazent, a drum and bass collective...
and Jamiroquai
Jamiroquai
Jamiroquai is a British jazz funk and acid jazz band formed in 1992. Jamiroquai were initially the most prominent component in the early-1990s London-based acid jazz movement, alongside groups such as Incognito, the James Taylor Quartet, and the Brand New Heavies. Other Acid Jazz artists such as...
. 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
Kiss 100 London
Kiss is a UK radio station broadcasting on FM and Digital Radio, specialising in hip hop, R&B, urban and electronic dance music. It also broadcasts on DAB Digital Radio around the UK & nationally on Freeview, Sky and TalkTalk TV...
dance music station, he was recruited to the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's youth-oriented Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
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
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
had an "anything goes" range of tastes displayed on his show, Peterson's focus has always been Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
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
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
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
FM4
FM4 is an Austrian national radio station, operated by the ORF. Its main target is the youth audience, and much of the music output is characterised by an alternative rock and electronic music slant....
in Austria, Radio Nova
Radio Nova (France)
Radio Nova is a radio station broadcast from Paris, created in 1981 by Jean-François Bizot.Its playlist is characterized by non-mainstream or underground artists of various music genres, such as electro, new wave, reggae, jazz, hip hop and world music....
in France, B92
B92
B92 is a radio and television broadcaster with national coverage headquartered in Belgrade, Serbia. The network's key demographic is chiefly urban and young audience. Its programs, including the news cover topics with fairly liberal political painted attitudes...
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
J-Wave
J-Wave is a commercial radio station based in Tokyo, Japan, broadcasting on 81.3 FM from the Tokyo Tower to the Tokyo area. J-Wave airs mostly music covering a wide range of formats. The station is considered the most popular among FM broadcasts in Tokyo, and has surprised the radio broadcast...
. Parallel to this, his frequent DJing gigs around the world also have cemented a worldwide following.
History
Attending The John Fisher SchoolThe John Fisher School
The John Fisher Old Boys Association is an exclusive members club for past pupils and teachers of The John Fisher School in Purley, Surrey.Membership of the Association is available to all former pupils of the John Fisher School and those members and former members of the School Staff who are...
in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Gilles Peterson was already known on the London circuit as a DJ specialising in the new breed of "acid jazz
Acid jazz
Acid jazz is a musical genre that combines elements of jazz, funk and hip-hop, particularly looped beats. It developed in the UK over the 1980s and 1990s and could be seen as tacking the sound of jazz-funk onto electronic dance: jazz-funk musicians such as Roy Ayers, Donald Byrd and Grant Green are...
", drawing on the jazz, funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
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
Camden Town
-Economy:In recent years, entertainment-related businesses and a Holiday Inn have moved into the area. A number of retail and food chain outlets have replaced independent shops driven out by high rents and redevelopment. Restaurants have thrived, with the variety of culinary traditions found in...
.
Dingwalls
That notable club, and one of Gilles Peterson's best remembered club sessions, was Talkin' Loud Sayin' Something at the old DingwallsDingwalls
Dingwalls is a venue adjacent to Camden Lock in London, England. It houses bars, cafes, clubs . The building itself is one of many industrial Victorian buildings that were put to new use in the 20th century. The original owner of the building, T.E...
club in Camden, North West London which ran from the late 1980s until March 1991. The sessions were characterised by jazz dance
Jazz dance
Jazz dance is a classification shared by a broad range of dance styles. Before the 1950s, jazz dance referred to dance styles that originated from African American vernacular dance. In the 1950s, a new genre of jazz dance—modern jazz dance—emerged, with roots in Caribbean traditional dance...
rs in suits hats and spats, heavyweight jazz dance classics including tracks from Yusef Lateef
Yusef Lateef
Dr. Yusef Lateef is an American Grammy Award-winning jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, educator and a spokesman for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community after his conversion to the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam in 1950.Although Lateef's main instruments are the tenor saxophone and flute, he is known for...
, Pharoah Sanders
Pharoah Sanders
Pharoah Sanders is a Grammy Award–winning American jazz saxophonist.Saxophonist Ornette Coleman once described him as "probably the best tenor player in the world." Emerging from John Coltrane's groups of the mid-60s Sanders is known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on...
, Freddie Hubbard
Freddie Hubbard
Frederick Dewayne "Freddie" Hubbard was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known primarily for playing in the bebop, hard bop and post bop styles from the early 1960s and on...
, Airto and Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
and the anthemic 'n the fast lane' by Jean-Luc Ponty
Jean-Luc Ponty
Jean-Luc Ponty is a French virtuoso violinist and jazz composer.- Early years:Ponty was born into a family of classical musicians on 29 September 1942 in Avranches, France. His father taught violin, his mother taught piano...
; but the jazz was fused with hip-hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
and the more experimental tracks. Gilles played alongside fellow London DJ Patrick Forge
Patrick Forge
Patrick Forge is a British jazz, jazz-dance and soul music DJ who spent much of the late 1980s and early 1990s DJing alongside Gilles Peterson at the famous Dingwalls club in Camden, North London....
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 8 October 2006, both Gilles & Patrick
Patrick Forge
Patrick Forge is a British jazz, jazz-dance and soul music DJ who spent much of the late 1980s and early 1990s DJing alongside Gilles Peterson at the famous Dingwalls club in Camden, North London....
played at a one-off show at the old site of Dingwalls (now a Jongleurs
Jongleurs
Jongleurs is a chain of comedy clubs in the United Kingdom. Maria Kempinska MBE established and opened the first Jongleurs club in 1983 in Battersea, London. In 1985 Maria then met her business partner John Davy, and together they built the Jongleurs brand. The company evolved into a corporate...
comedy club
Comedy club
A comedy club is a venue, typically a nightclub, bar, or restaurant where people watch or listen to performances, including stand-up comedians, improvisational comedians, impersonators, magicians, ventriloquists and other comedy acts...
). 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 FM102.2 Jazz FM
102.2 Jazz FM was a local jazz and soul music station for London run by GMG Radio. The station was based and broadcast from Castlereagh Street in London to around 15.5 million people within the broadcasting area...
. The three hour show was stripped into sections including the 'Samba
Samba
Samba is a Brazilian dance and musical genre originating in Bahia and with its roots in Brazil and Africa via the West African slave trade and African religious traditions. It is recognized around the world as a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian Carnival...
60' and the 'Vibrazone' and artists as diverse as Justin Warfield
Justin Warfield
Justin Warfield is a musician and hip hop emcee of African American and Jewish Russian-Romanian maternal parentage, who is currently half of the darkwave duo She Wants Revenge...
, Sérgio Mendes
Sergio Mendes
Sérgio Santos Mendes is a Brazilian musician. He has released over thirty-five albums, and plays bossa nova heavily crossed with jazz and funk....
and Leon Thomas
Leon Thomas
Amos Leon Thomas Jr was an American avant garde jazz singer from East St. Louis, Illinois.Thomas studied music at Tennessee State University. In the 1960s he was a vocalist for Count Basie and others....
would all appear on the same playlist. He was forced to leave the station after making anti-war comments during the 1st Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
.
Kiss 100 FM
September 1990 saw London piratePirate radio
Pirate radio is illegal or unregulated radio transmission. The term is most commonly used to describe illegal broadcasting for entertainment or political purposes, but is also sometimes used for illegal two-way radio operation...
dance music station Kiss 100 FM
Kiss 100 London
Kiss is a UK radio station broadcasting on FM and Digital Radio, specialising in hip hop, R&B, urban and electronic dance music. It also broadcasts on DAB Digital Radio around the UK & nationally on Freeview, Sky and TalkTalk TV...
become legal when it acquired a licence and started to broadcast from Holloway Road
Holloway Road
Holloway Road is a road in London. It is one of the main shopping streets in North London, and carries the A1 road as it passes through Holloway, in the London Borough of Islington...
in North London. Patrick Forge
Patrick Forge
Patrick Forge is a British jazz, jazz-dance and soul music DJ who spent much of the late 1980s and early 1990s DJing alongside Gilles Peterson at the famous Dingwalls club in Camden, North London....
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. In his shows on Kiss FM he played acts as diverse as Josh Wink
Josh Wink
Josh Wink is an electronic music DJ, label owner, producer, remixer, and artist. He is a native of Philadelphia, United States. A pioneering DJ in the American rave scene during the early 1990s, Wink was the most prominent exponent of the tribal forms of techno and house in the U.S...
, Gang Starr
Gang Starr
Gang Starr was an influential East Coast hip hop duo that consisted of the late MC Guru and DJ/producer DJ Premier. Their style combined elements of New York jazz and hip hop.-Background:...
and Horace Silver
Horace Silver
Horace Silver , born Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silva in Norwalk, Connecticut, is an American jazz pianist and composer....
in the space of a single programme. He was then hired by BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
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 WingFolded Wing
Folded Wing is an independent radio and audio production company. They produce radio shows, podcasts and multi-platform music events.Their work includes traditional, online and digital audio production, building new radio stations, syndication of branded content globally, radio ads & commercial...
), 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 1950s to 1980s. 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
Ubiquity Records
Ubiquity Records is an American music label that focuses on funk, rare groove, soul, and hip hop and other musical genres. It is located in Costa Mesa, California and has a satellite office based in San Francisco, California...
'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
The Big Chill (music festival)
The Big Chill is an annual festival of alternative, dance and chill-out music and comedy, held in the grounds of Eastnor Castle during early August...
at Eastnor Castle
Eastnor Castle
Eastnor Castle is a 19th century mock castle, two miles from the town of Ledbury in Herefordshire, England, by the village of Eastnor. It was founded by John Cocks, 1st Earl Somers as his stately home and continues to be inhabited by his descendents. Currently in residence is the family of...
Herefordshire featuring Bugz In The Attic
Bugz in the Attic
Bugz in the Attic is a collective of DJs and producers based in West London, who are prominent in broken beat. The collective includes Orin Walters , Paul Dolby , Kaidi Tatham, Daz-I-Kue, Alex Phountzi , Cliff Scott, Mark Force, Matt Lord, and Mikey Stirton. The group also has a label, BitaSweet...
performing a DJ set, and interviews with house
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
DJ Tom Middleton
Tom Middleton
Tom Middleton is a prolific British recording artist, music producer, remixer and DJ.A classically trained pianist and cellist, Middleton worked in the early 1990s with Richard D. James , co-producing "En-Trance To Exit" on the Analogue Bubblebath EP for Exeter's influential Mighty Force Records...
and Mr. Scruff
Mr. Scruff
Mr. Scruff is the recording name of Andy Carthy , a British DJ and artist. He lives in Stockport, Greater Manchester, and studied fine art at the Psalter Lane campus of Sheffield Hallam University...
.
One of the highlights of the new format BBC Radio 1 show was the special sessions from the BBC's Maida Vale Studios
Maida Vale Studios
Maida Vale Studios is a complex of seven BBC studios on Delaware Road, Maida Vale, London.It has been used to record thousands of classical music, popular music and drama sessions for BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4 from 1946 to the present...
. These have included artists such as Roots Manuva
Roots Manuva
Rodney Hylton Smith , better known by his stage name Roots Manuva, is a British rapper from Stockwell, South London. He is currently signed to Big Dada.-Biography:...
, Bjork
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...
and the Floating Points Ensemble.
Radio shows and DJing gigs continue to fuse hip-hop, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
with the newer styles of broken beat
Broken beat
Broken beat is an electronic music genre that can be characterized by syncopated rhythm typically in 4/4 meter, with staggered or punctuated snare beats and/or hand claps....
and nu jazz
Nu jazz
Nu jazz is an umbrella term coined in the late 1990s to refer to music that blends jazz elements with other musical styles, such as funk, soul, electronic dance music, and free improvisation...
alongside the odd dubstep
Dubstep
Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in south London, England. Its overall sound has been described as "tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals"....
and drum and bass
Drum and bass
Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...
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
Lupe Fiasco
Wasalu Muhammad Jaco , better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco , is an American rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur. As an entrepreneur, Lupe is the CEO of 1st and 15th Entertainment. He rose to fame in 2006 following the success of his critically acclaimed debut album, Lupe Fiasco's Food...
. 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 1950-1960s, 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
Worldwide Winners
Radio and club DJ Gilles Peterson every three months or so does an All Winners Special in which he replays the previous few months' best new tracks --both singles/individual album tracks as well as whole albums—he has either played out when DJing or played on his BBC Radio 1 show Worldwide...
, which listeners of his radio show can vote on via the Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
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
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
club venue; Cargo in 2004 and onto the bigger Koko in Camden
London Borough of Camden
In 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough were already developed and had a total population of 96,795. This continued to rise swiftly throughout the 19th century, as the district became built up; reaching 270,197 in the middle of the century...
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
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
Record Labels
Gilles Peterson has been integrally linked with 3 record labels. In 1988 he and Eddie PillerEddie Piller
Eddie Piller is an English DJ and record label entrepreneur.Starting his career in the 1980s as a part of the English mod revival, Piller launched the underground fanzine Extraordinary Sensations and operated as a DJ and concert promoter. In 1985, he started the Countdown Records label, through...
founded Acid Jazz Records
Acid Jazz Records
Acid Jazz is a record label based in east London. It takes its name from acid jazz, a genre of jazz music. Alternative version states that the genre itself was named after the record label...
, an influential label whose roster included the Brand New Heavies
Brand New Heavies
The Brand New Heavies are an acid jazz and funk group formed in 1985 in Ealing, a suburb of London, England.-Biography:The Brand New Heavies began in the 1980s as an instrumental acid jazz group called Brother International....
, Jamiroquai
Jamiroquai
Jamiroquai is a British jazz funk and acid jazz band formed in 1992. Jamiroquai were initially the most prominent component in the early-1990s London-based acid jazz movement, alongside groups such as Incognito, the James Taylor Quartet, and the Brand New Heavies. Other Acid Jazz artists such as...
, Corduroy
Corduroy (band)
Corduroy were a four-piece acid jazz outfit based in London, formed around twins Ben Addison and Scott Addison , who were previously in Sire Records act Boys Wonder . Joining the twins in the band were Richard Searle and guitarist Simon Nelson-Smith...
, the James Taylor Quartet
James Taylor Quartet
The James Taylor Quartet are a British four-piece jazz funk band who have become renowned for their live performances. They were formed by Hammond organ player James Taylor following the break-up of his former band The Prisoners in the wake of Stiff Records' bankruptcy...
and Snowboy
Snowboy
Snowboy is a UK-based Afro Cuban percussionist, bandleader, DJ, music critic, journalist and music promoter.Featured in the Who's Who of Latin American Music, Snowboy has released 11 albums and 17 singles in a career that spans over 15 years and has taken him and his authentic Afro-Cuban sound to...
. After growing disillusioned with the scene that grew up around the label, he went on to run Talkin' Loud
Talkin' Loud
Talkin' Loud is a record label started by Gilles Peterson at Phonogram in 1990 after he left Acid Jazz Records. The label name is based on Peterson's club night "Talkin' Loud And Sayin' Something", itself a reference to James Brown and Bobby Byrd's "Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing".The first...
, enlisting the help of fellow DJ Norman Jay
Norman Jay
Norman Jay MBE is an innovative and pioneering British DJ. He first came to prominence playing unlicensed or 'warehouse' parties in the early 1980s, such as Shake 'n' Fingerpop. His diverse and deep musical knowledge and his refusal to be restricted to playing from any single genre distinguishes...
who formed his own Global Village label.
The label drew its name from the James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
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
Masters At Work
Masters at Work is the house/garage production and remix team of "Little" Louie Vega and Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez. They first worked together using the name, which had been given to them by mutual friend Todd Terry , in 1990...
), Courtney Pine
Courtney Pine
Courtney Pine CBE is an English jazz musician. At school he studied the clarinet, although he is known primarily for his saxophone playing. Pine is a multi-instrumentalist, also playing the flute, clarinet, bass Clarinet and keyboards...
, MJ Cole, Young Disciples
Young Disciples
Young Disciples was a British / American acid jazz band, formed in London in 1990 by Carleen Anderson , Marc Nelson plus Femi Williams ....
, Incognito
Incognito (band)
Incognito is a British band, as well as one of the members of the United Kingdom's acid jazz movement. Their debut album, Jazz Funk, was released in 1981, with thirteen more albums following, the last of which, Transatlantic RPM, was released in 2010....
, Terry Callier
Terry Callier
Terrence O. Callier, known as Terry Callier is an American jazz, soul and folk guitarist and singer-songwriter.-Life and career:...
, The Roots
The Roots
The Roots is an American hip hop/neo soul band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are famed for beginning with a jazzy, eclectic approach to hip hop which still includes live instrumentals...
, Galliano
Galliano (band)
Galliano were a London-based acid jazz group, which started in 1988. The group was the first signing to Eddie Piller and Gilles Peterson's Talkin' Loud label. The original members were Rob Gallagher , Constantine Weir , Michael Snaith , and Crispin Robinson...
and Roni Size's
Roni Size
Roni Size is a British record producer and DJ, who came to prominence in 1997 as the founder and leader of Reprazent, a drum and bass collective...
project Reprazent
Reprazent
Reprazent is a British drum and bass act formed by Roni Size. Their debut album New Forms won the Mercury Music Prize in 1997. Their follow-up album In The Mode featured artists including Rahzel, Zack de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine and Method Man.Roni Size resurrected Reprazent in 2008...
. Courtney Pine, Young Disciples, MJ Cole & 4 Hero all received nominations for the Mercury Prize
Mercury Prize
The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize and currently known as the Barclaycard Mercury Prize for sponsorship reasons, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album from the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was established by the British Phonographic Industry and British...
, with Reprazent winning the award in 1997.
Peterson's most recent record label, Brownswood Recordings
Brownswood Recordings
Brownswood Recordings is a London-based independent record label launched in 2006 by DJ Gilles Peterson.-Artists include:* Ben Westbeech.* The Heritage Orchestra.* Soil & "Pimp" Sessions.* José James.* Gilles Peterson.* Elan Mehler.* Ghostpoet....
, was launched in 2006. It was named after the road in North London
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...
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
Ben Westbeech
Ben Westbeech is a male DJ, singer and producer originating from Bristol, but who now lives in London, UK. Trained as cellist and vocalist, his influences include House, Soul, Jazz and hip hop.-Beginning Carrer :...
, 45 piece live act The Heritage Orchestra, Japanese punk jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
band Soil & "Pimp" Sessions
Soil and Pimp Sessions
Soil & "Pimp" Sessions is a Japanese club jazz sextet who formed in Tokyo, Japan in 2001. They are known for their energetic live performances, having coined the term "death jazz" to describe their music.-Members:...
, Brooklyn based pianist Elan Mehler, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
vocalist José James
José James
José James is an American vocalist best known for performing and blending modern jazz and hip-hop. James performs all over the world both as a leader and with other groups.-Biography:...
, 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
Roberto Fonseca
Roberto Fonseca is a Cuban jazz pianist.. From an early age, Fonseca was surrounded by music: his father was a drummer, his mother, Mercedes Cortes Alfaro, a professional singer , and his two older half-brothers, Emilio Valdés and Jesús “Chuchito” Valdés Jr...
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
Talkin' Loud
Talkin' Loud is a record label started by Gilles Peterson at Phonogram in 1990 after he left Acid Jazz Records. The label name is based on Peterson's club night "Talkin' Loud And Sayin' Something", itself a reference to James Brown and Bobby Byrd's "Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing".The first...
, 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
United Future Organization
United Future Organization otherwise known as UFO is a nu-jazz duo made up of Japanese-born and Frenchman . In 1994, the group appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation album, Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool...
as well as other Japanese associated projects.
Festivals
Peterson has made very many regular appearances at music festivals across the world including LoveboxLovebox
-Charts:-Chart procession and succession:-Recording personnel:* 3rd Productions - production * Beni - lyrics , music * D.O.I...
in east London, The Big Chill
The Big Chill (music festival)
The Big Chill is an annual festival of alternative, dance and chill-out music and comedy, held in the grounds of Eastnor Castle during early August...
in Hereford and the Southport Weekender in the north west of England. Away from the UK he has appeared at the Exit Festival
EXIT (festival)
Exit is an annual summer music festival in the Petrovaradin Fortress of Novi Sad, Serbia. It is staged annually since 2000 and usually lasts four days ....
in Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
and in 2005 the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is a three-day annual music and arts festival, organized by Goldenvoice and held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Inland Empire's Coachella Valley...
.
Peterson and Freshly Cut, a French event production company from Montpellier
Montpellier
-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....
, collaborated to create the Worldwide Festival. This started out as a small intimate festival during the summertime in the coastal town of Sète
Sète
Sète is a commune in the Hérault department in Languedoc-Roussillon in southern France. Its inhabitants are called Sétois....
in France in 2006. It was expanded to three festivals, in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
and Sète in 2007.
Dipping his toe into the world of production, Peterson has collaborated with Switch (DJ)
Switch (DJ)
Switch is a UK-based DJ, songwriter, sound engineer and record producer. He is best known for his work with M.I.A. and Santigold.In the fidget house genre, Switch runs his own music label "Dubsided", as well as the label Counterfeet, established in 2006 with fellow producer Sinden...
in the past, but currently works with his engineer Simbad, remixing the likes of Saona, Keziah Jones
Keziah Jones
Keziah Jones is a Nigerian singer-songwriter and guitarist. He describes his musical style as "Blufunk", which is a fusion between raw blues elements and hard, edgy funk rhythms...
and Raphael Gualazzi to date.
Discography
- Jazz Juice Street Sounds 1985
- Jazz Juice 2 Street Sounds 1985
- Blue Bossa Blue Note 1986
- Jazz Juice 3 Street Sounds 1986
- Jazz Juice 4 Street Sounds 1986
- Baptist Beat Blue Note 1987
- Cal's Pals BGP Records 1987
- Jazz Juice 5 Street Sounds 1987
- Jazz Juice 6 Street Sounds 1987
- Focus On Fusion BGP Records 1987
- Focus On Fusion Volume 2 BGP Records 1987
- Acid Inc., The Best Of Funk Inc. BGP Records 1988
- Acid Jazz And Other Illicit Grooves Polydor (Germany) 1988
- B&G Party BGP Records 1988
- Beat On (The Best Of The Blackbyrds) BGP Records 1988
- Dance Juice Vol. 2 BGP Records 1988
- Dance Juice Vol. 3 BGP Records 1988
- Jazz Juice 7 Street Sounds 1988
- Jazz Juice 8 Street Sounds 1988
- Milestone Memories BGP Records 1988
- The Best Of Azymuth BGP Records 1988
- Acid Jazz Vol. 4 BGP Records 1989
- Jazz Today Volume 1 BGP Records 1989
- Latin Jazz - Volume 1 BGP Records 1989
- Latin Jazz - Volume 2 BGP Records 1989
- Soul Jazz Volume 1 BGP Records 1989
- The Best Of Acid Jazz BGP Records 1989
- Totally Wired Acid Jazz 1989
- Totally Wired II Acid Jazz 1989
- Acid Jazz Vol. 1 BGP Records 1991
- Acid Jazz Vol. 2 BGP Records 1991
- Acid Jazz Vol. 3 BGP Records 1991
- Acid Inc., The Best Of Funk Inc. BGP Records 1991
- Make It Deep And Phunky Blue Note 1992
- The Best Of Latin Jazz BGP Records 1992
- Mo' Deep Mo' Phunky Blue Note 1993
- Brasil - Escola Do Jazz Toshiba EMI Ltd 1994
- Brazilica! Talkin' Loud 1994
- Jazz Juice #1 Beechwood Music, Street Sounds 1994
- Jazz Juice #2 Beechwood Music, Street Sounds 1994
- Talkin' Jazz: Themes From The Black Forest Talkin' Loud 1994
- Talkin' Jazz Volume 2 (More Themes From The Black Forest) Talkin' Loud, Polydor (Germany) 1994
- Jazz Juice #3 Beechwood Music, Street Sounds 1995
- Talkin' Verve Verve Records 1995
- Brazilica, Volume II Talkin' Loud 1997
- Desert Island Mix Journeys By DJ 1997
- Talkin' Jazz Vol [III] Talkin' Loud 1997
- Talkin' Louder Year On Year Talkin' Loud, DJ Magazine 1997
- Free Style Mercury 1998
- INCredible Sound Of Gilles Peterson INCredible 1999
- Sound Of The City Vol. 2 - London Motor Music, Universal Jazz (Germany) 1999
- Worldwide Programme 1 Talkin' Loud 2000
- GP01 Trust The DJ 2001
- GP02 - Eclectic Trust The DJ 2002
- GP03 Trust The DJ 2002
- Impressed With Gilles Peterson Universal Jazz (UK) 2002
- Worldwide 2 Programme 2 Talkin' Loud 2002
- A Journey To The Dawn Temposphere 2003
- Broken Folk Funk Latin Soul Muzik Magazine 2003
- GP04 - Eclectic Trust The DJ 2003
- GP05 - Eclectic Session Vol. 2 Trust The DJ 2003
- Shibuya Jazz Classics - Gilles Peterson Collection - TRIO Issue Solid Records 2003
- Southport Weekender suSU 2003
- Worldwide 3 Progamme 3 Talkin' Loud 2003
- Gilles Peterson In Brazil Ether 2004
- Impressed 2 With Gilles Peterson Universal Jazz (UK) 2004
- Worldwide Exclusives Talkin' Loud 2004
- Brasil - The Rhythm And Art Of Movement Nike 2005
- Gilles Peterson Digs America - Brownswood U.S.A. Luv N' Haight 2005
- Gilles Peterson In Africa Ether 2005
- Gilles Peterson Presents - The BBC Sessions Vol. 1 Ether 2005
- Petit Dejeuner Au Lit! Most Records, Habitat 2005
- Smell The Grass Mixmag 2005
- Brownswood Bubblers Brownswood Recordings 2006
- Gilles Peterson & Patrick Forge Present - Sunday Afternoon At Dingwalls Ether 2006
- Gilles Peterson Back In Brazil Ether 2006
- Pure Fire! A Gilles Peterson Impulse! Collection Impulse! 2006
- The Kings Of Jazz - Compiled by Gilles Peterson and Jazzanova Rapster Records 2006
- Brownswood Bubblers Two Brownswood Recordings 2007
- Fania DJ Series Gilles Peterson Fania Records 2007
- Gilles Peterson Digs America 2 - Searching At The End Of An Era Luv N' Haight 2007
- Brownswood Bubblers Three Brownswood Recordings 2008
- Gilles Peterson In The House ITH Records 2008
- Brazilika Far Out Recordings 2009
- Brownswood Bubblers Four Brownswood Recordings 2009
- Freedom Rhythm & Sound - Revolutionary Jazz & The Civil Rights Movement 1963-82 Soul Jazz Records 2009
- Gilles Peterson Presents Havana Cultura: New Cuba Sound Brownswood Recordings 2009
- Brownswood Bubblers Five Brownswood Recordings 2010
- Brownswood Bubblers Six Brownswood Recordings 2010
- Everyday Blue Note - Compiled by Gilles Peterson Blue Note (Japan Only) 2010
- Gilles Peterson Presents Havana Cultura: Remixed Brownswood Recordings 2010
- Gilles Peterson Presents: Worldwide BBE 2010
- Heartbeat Presents One Time! Mixed by Gilles Peterson × Air Lastrum 2010
- Horo: A Jazz Portrait Dejavu 2010
- Bossa Nova And The Rise Of Brazilian Music In The 1960s Soul Jazz Records 2011
- Brownswood Bubblers Seven Brownswood Recordings 2011
- Gilles Peterson Presents Havana Cultura: The Search Continues Brownswood Recordings 2011
- Masterpiece: Created By Gilles Peterson Ministry Of Sound 2011
External links
- Gilles Peterson biography on BBC Radio 1BBC Radio 1BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
- Gilles Peterson Pressents Havana Cultura