Gilles Peterson

History

Born in France to a mother from Paris, France, and a father from Zürich, Switzerland, Gilles Peterson moved to the UK very young and attended the Roman Catholic John Fisher School. He became known on the London circuit as a DJ specialising in the new breed of "acid jazz", drawing on the jazz, funk and Latin fusions (including Brazilian music) of the 1970s. First heard as a DJ on the London pirate radio station Radio Invicta, he went on to host Mad On Jazz on BBC Radio London in 1986–87, then ran club night at Dingwalls in Camden Town. Upon leaving BBC London in 1986, Peterson took up a new residency at Dingwalls in Camden, which ran for five years. Coinciding with the rise of acid house in UK clubland, the popularity of Sunday Afternoon at Dingwalls grew and grew, establishing itself as a legendary session. This was just one among many other significant clubs with which Peterson was associated: Special Branch, Electric Ballroom, Wag Club, Babylon at Heaven, Fez, Talking Loud at the Fridge and not forgetting That’s How It Is at Bar Rumba and his long association with Plastic People. Peterson now curates a number of extraordinary live music events in the UK and internationally including the Worldwide Festival in the south of France, now in its 10th year.

Dingwalls

That club, and one of 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, well-known jazz dance classics including tracks from Yusef Lateef, Pharoah Sanders, Freddie Hubbard, Airto, Herbie Hancock, and the anthemic In The Fast Lane by Jean-Luc Ponty; but the jazz was fused with hip-hop and the more experimental tracks. Peterson 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. On 8 October 2006, both Peterson and Forge played the first of many annual reunion shows at the old site of Dingwalls (now a Jongleurs comedy club), with a compilation album of popular tracks from the club also being released at the same time in 2006 entitled 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". Artists as diverse as the Freestyle Fellowship, 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 first 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 the 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. Peterson moved over to Kiss FM himself after being fired by Jazz FM. 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.

Radio 1

From 1998 to 2012, through his BBC show Worldwide - which was originally produced by longtime collaborator Benji B, Karen P (Folded Wing), Ben Cave, Beccy Grierson, Alex Kenning and currently Dave O'Donnell - Peterson continued to present a wide range of music that may be new to its young audiences. The show always presented a combination of new, older and often very rare records from the late 1950s to 1980s. Every three months or so, Peterson dedicated a whole show to older vinyl releases in a special version of his show he subtitles as Brownswood Basement; two associated compilation albums with the same name containing older personal classics have been released on the United States label Ubiquity Records's offshoot Luv N' Haight. He has been associated with two Brownswood labels - the name comes from the road in north London where his house was located. This building is now primarily a place Peterson uses to store his huge record collection. 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, Björk and Floating Points. 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 was broadcast live between 2am and 4am on Wednesday mornings.

In 2002 he released a compilation album, Impressed with Gilles Peterson, featuring rare and forgotten British Jazz from the 1950-1960s, that Peterson had collected over the years. This 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 and a documentary about the history of British jazz (Jazz Britannia).

In late 2011 Peterson announced that after 13 years at the station he would be leaving BBC Radio 1, following his last show in the early hours of Wednesday 28 March, 02:00 to 04:00 (GMT), and moving to a new show on BBC Radio 6 Music.

Radio 6 Music

Following his departure from Radio 1, Peterson started a new three-hour Saturday afternoon show on BBC Radio 6 Music, beginning on Saturday 7 April 2012, running weekly from 15:00 to 18:00 (GMT), and giving him an extra hour of broadcast time. Like his previous Radio 1 programme, it is made by independent production company Somethin' Else for the BBC.

J-WAVE

Peterson has been producing and broadcasting original radio shows for Japan. He had daily 15 minute music program on J-WAVE (81.3FM), Tokyo’s Finest FM Station. Daily program “Worldwide 15” run Mondays - Thursdays from 16:05-16:20 from 2005-2011. The show was highly received and made many radio hits. Music event of the program "Worldwide Showcase” became annual events and each year which featured DJs and Live acts from Japan and outer national. The event was curated under particular theme each year (2006 - 1 year anniversary, 2008- 3rd Anniversary, 2009 - AFRO-CUBAN FLAVA, 2010 - Galaxy Session, 2011 - Love Supreme, 2012 - Six Sense).

Worldwide Awards

The Worldwide Awards is an annual event wherein Gilles Peterson chooses his favourite records of the year. His listeners then vote for the top 10 via the Radio 1 website. The event has been held at London venues including Cargo and KoKo with full broadcast coverage by Radio 1, and has expanded to include sections such as "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 a newcomer, who has displayed special noteworthy work over the year.

Mistral Productions

Peterson is the creative director of Mistral Productions, launched in November 2013, which produces his internationally syndicated radio shows as well as audio and video content for brands.

Record labels

Peterson has been involved in founding four record labels. In 1987, together with DJ Baz Fe Jazz, he was recruited by Ace Records to create the soul, funk and jazz dance sub-label BGP Records. In 1988 he and Eddie Piller founded Acid Jazz Records, a label whose roster included the Brand New Heavies, Jamiroquai, Corduroy, the James Taylor Quartet and Snowboy. After growing disillusionment 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 Talkin' Loud roster 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.

Peterson's most recent record label, Brownswood Recordings, was launched in 2006. The label's early releases includes the likes of British singer/songwriter Ben Westbeech, 45-piece orchestral ensemble The Heritage Orchestra, Japanese punk jazz band Soil & "Pimp" Sessions, Brooklyn-based pianist Elan Mehler and jazz vocalist José James. More recently, they've released music by Zara McFarlane, Ghostpoet's Mercury Prize-nominated debut and their long-running compilation series, compiled by Peterson, called Brownswood Bubbler.

The label is sometimes confused with a different imprint called Brownswood Records, which released music from Japanese bands like United Future Organization.

Steve Reid Foundation

In 2011, he founded the Steve Reid Foundation in memory of the legendary jazz drummer. Having witnessed Reid’s suffering with illness and hardship, Gilles set up the charity to raise money for musicians in need. Since then, they’ve collaborated with Help Musicians UK to help musicians who are in need of support. More recently, a collaboration with the PRS Foundation has seen grants and mentoring provided to new artists. Gilles ran the 2011 London Marathon, raising just under £7,000 for Help Musicians UK, followed by the 2016 New York Marathon, where he raised over $21,000 for the Steve Reid Foundation.

Festivals

Peterson has made 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, INmusic festival in Croatia, and in 2006 the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Peterson also curated his own stage at Montreux Jazz Festival for 10 years during the 1990s. Recently he has appeared in festivals such as Tramlines, Standon Calling, Summerstage, Slide 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 include a winter versions which is now hosted in the Swiss Alps - Leysin.

Production

In the world of production, Peterson has collaborated with Switch and DJ Clipz in the past, and most recently Peterson produced two tracks for Roberto Fonseca’s Grammy-nominated album Yo. Peterson also produced Danay Suarez's album and has remixed artists such as Raphael Gualazzi, The Bees and Fatoumata Diawara and most recently Gregory Porter's Grammy-winning album Liquid Spirit alongside Alex Patchwork. Peterson continues to develop his studio sound with his in-house partner Simbad.

Sonzeira

Released in May 2014 via Talkin’ Loud / Virgin EMI, Sonzeira's Brasil Bam Bam Bam is a journey through the different flavours of authentic Brazilian music culture. Sonzeira is the collective name for the group of Brazilian artists who feature on the album. Peterson turned from DJ to producer for this ambitious venture, settling in Rio de Janeiro with young UK production associates Sam Shepherd (Floating Points); Dilip Harris and Rob Gallagher from 2 Banks of 4; and Kassin from Rio collective Orquestra Imperial. The album features Brazilian artists such as Seu Jorge and Elza Soares.

Along with the album, there was a documentary film celebrating the creation and release of “Sonzeira: Brasil Bam Bam Bam". Titled “Bam Bam Bam: The Story of Sonzeira”, this two-hour documentary was directed by Charlie Inman and Ben Holman and shot in 2014 by Mother London and Rio de Janeiro’s Beija Films. The film was also distributed in Tokyo, Japan by Sha-la-la Company and raised money for Fight For Peace (Luta Pela Paz), organization founded in Complexo da Maré, Rio de Janeiro, as a direct response to youth-involvement in drug-related crime and violence.

Havana Cultura

2009 saw the birth of a new collaborative project and long-term partnership between Peterson and Havana Club or "Havana Cultura". Havana Cultura is a global initiative developed by Havana Club International that gives a platform to Cuban artists from all disciplines. The website, www.havana-cultura.com, was launched in 2007.

Peterson and Brownswood's involvement began two years later, resulting in four album releases and three international tours.

Havana Cultura: New Cuba Sound was the first album to come out of the project, released in 2010. Travelling to Cuba in 2009, Peterson teamed up with the award-winning Cuban jazz pianist Roberto Fonseca to find the best up-and-coming musical talent in Havana. The double CD album was a celebration of Cuba’s musical forces spanning Latin, Afro jazz and fusion to hip-hop, funk, reggaeton and soul.

In support of this project, Peterson began a European tour in June/July 2010, accompanied by Fonseca, his band and vocalists Danay Suarez, Ogguere and Obsesión. This was the first of three tours organised in close collaboration with Havana Club. The Gilles Peterson Havana Cultura band has now travelled through Europe and beyond with shows in London (Barbican), Paris, Amsterdam, Istanbul, Berlin and Madrid, as well as many festivals.

Travelling with the rest of the 2011 crew, Mala (Digital Mystikz) was also invited to Cuba with Peterson to record and collaborate with local musicians as part of the ongoing Havana Cultura project. The results are found on the album Mala in Cuba, which was released on Brownswood Recordings in partnership with Havana Cultura on 10 September 2012.

WorldWide FM

A new global music-radio platform launched by Gilles Peterson in September 2016. Following the success of the Grand Theft Auto V in-game radio station of the same name, WorldWide FM has expanded into the real world with Peterson and Thris Tian hosting shows alongside a hand-picked roster of the finest DJs and selectors from five continents. Since the launch, the station has gone out on the road broadcasting across Europe, the US and Asia, with pop-ups in Amsterdam (ADE), Los Angeles (How We Do LA), Marseille (Le Gallette), Milan (Jazzmi Festival), Paris (Le Mellotron), Tokyo (HMV Shibuya), and closer to home, at the 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair (Somerset House). The station is Powered by WeTransfer and broadcasting from The Pyramid radio studios in north London.

URL: https://www.worldwidefm.net/

WeTransfer

Peterson is the creative director of WeTransfer, a cloud-based computer file transfer service based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. As Creative Director, Peterson gets involved with a number of forthcoming projects such as developing the third season of The Creative Class film series by returning to Cuba to explore the creative scene over there, as well as embarking on a number of film and music projects. WeTransfer supports Worldwide FM.

Awards

Remixes

Production

Books