Gilles Peterson

@gilles-peterson · London

To many a series of discordant, often obscure and forgotten names but to Gilles Peterson and an ever growing number of radio listeners, clubbers and music lovers, these and many other artists form a rich, vibrant and coherent thread stretching from the primal roots of Africa to the bass culture of Jamaica via the urban soul of Detroit to the intricate stylings of the European new jazz generation. All in all, a truly global musical perspective championed by Gilles for the past 20 years and given voice on his weekly Radio 1 show ‘Worldwide’ and heard around the planet from London to Lagos to Los Angeles. It is this instinctive, personal belief in the uniting power of music that has motivated his vision of an all-embracing musical language that not only cuts across cultural, linguistic and national boundaries but also encompasses them to create new possibilities, new vistas. Indeed, to quote from Lonnie Liston Smith to create ‘a vision of a new world’. So where did this distinct approach find its genesis? What course has led Gilles to this current point? To answer this we need to go back to South London in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Internationally, the period was hallmarked by tension in the Middle East and a new ossification in the Cold War. In the UK, a new Tory government under Margaret Thatcher had been elected, unemployment rocketed and riots scarred many inner cities. Along with the various political & social transitions, music was witnessing a change. Punk had died