Gilles Peterson & Various Artists
Biographie Gilles Peterson & Various Artists
Gilles Peterson
DJ, Broadcaster, producer and owner of Brownswood Recordings, bringing you an eclectic mix of soul, jazz, house and hip hop can count two million global listeners to his weekly Saturday afternoon radio show on BBC 6 Music. Guests on the show have included Kendrick Lamar, Lonnie Liston Smith and Flying Lotus to name but a few.
Ever since the 1980s with his releases of the Jazz Juice compilations, Gilles has notched up over 100 mix CDs/compilations, making him the undoubted world record holder! Sharing his appreciation and discovery of exceptionally talented musicians from all corners of the musical world.
Along with a consistent flow of compilation albums, such as ‘Gilles Person Digs America’, he is responsible for a wave of new music from his own independent Brownswood imprint. Since its launch in 2006, Brownswood has released ten albums of “Bubblers”, four “Electrics” and a range of albums from artists including Mala, Ghost Poet, Jose James, Zara Mcfarlane, Anushka, Diggs Duke and Troumaca. Brownswood has also dropped a small stack of remixes that enlist the talents of Cobblestone Jazz, IG Culture, Jazzanova, MJ Cole, Domu, Osunlade, Dap Kings, Spiritual South, Zed Bias and Daisuke Tanabe amongst others.
2014 bore witness to Gilles’ latest project Sonzeira Brasil Bam Bam Bam. Gilles turned producer setting up camp in Rio de Janeiro to make an new album with production team Sam Shepherd (Floating Points); Dilip Harris and Rob Gallagher from 2 Banks of 4; and Kassin from Rio collective Orquestra Imperial. Together they set about recording all-new material with a stellar lineup of Brazilian talent; Seu George and powerhouse Elza Soares under the name Sonzeira. The result is an inspirational portrait of a nation in sound.
For years, Gilles has been criss-crossing the planet, hopping from continent to continent, playing dozens of mind expanding club and festival sessions. From London to Berlin from Singapore to Dubai from Sao Paulo to LA from NYC to Tokyo, he has a legion of followers who adhere to his vision that joins the dots between his soul boy heritage, his deep knowledge and passion for jazz and today’s boundary breaking nu-skool.
Since he ran a pirate radio station out of his back garden shed in south London during his teens Gilles Peterson has devoted his life to promoting the jazz spirit and it’s contemporary urban manifestations around the world. Gilles has an internationally syndicated radio show that is broadcast from stations across the globe, produced by his production company Mistral Productions.
Gilles Peterson is heavily committed to curating major innovative events like the acclaimed Jazz Britannia at the Barbican, The Worldwide Awards and his own longstanding night at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Not only that, but he curates his own, 'Worldwide Festival', the aim of which, he says, is to, 'invite my friends to play to the finest crowd on the finest sound systems'. The festival has seen performances from an array of musicians, bands and DJs including Omar Souleyman, Little Dragon, James Blake, Robert Glasper, Hudson Mohawke, Todd Terje, Omar, Bonobo and loads more! The festival is nestled in a small southern French fishing town - Sète for the summer edition and Leysin in the Swiss Alps for the winter edition.
Gilles Peterson’s experiences as a DJ for Radio One, BBC 6 Music, KISS FM, Jazz FM (from which he was "sacked for playing peace jazz"), Radio London and those classic pirate stations like Invicta and K-Jazz continues to fuel a serious passion for broadcasting. Anyone who has sat in on a live’n’direct Worldwide broadcast will testify that an alignment of pent up energy, deep knowledge and commitment to new music makes him capable of uniting totally unique diverse musical forces to create a deeply soulful, positive and ever expansive vibe.
