Gilles Peterson

Gilles Peterson - long time DJ, Talkin' Loud label head, and the man co-credited for spawning the acid jazz tag and movement - has consistently been out of sync with, yet giant steps ahead of dance music culture. As a DJ, Peterson has always represented the underside of club culture, spinning obscure jazz, funk and Brazilian tunes in back rooms long before they became fashionable main room material. As an A&R man, he had the vision to sign previously obscure artists such as Young Disciples, Galliano, Roni Size & Reprazent, 4 Hero, and, most recently, MJ Cole. Gilles Peterson has the mind of a musician and the soul of a poet; nobody can touch him when it comes to knowledge, passion, flow and range. This exquisite, double mixed CD shines a light on all of those attributes, also proving to naysayers that Peterson can indeed beat mix - when the music warrants it. Disc one sees Gilles jumping musical decades as easily as genres - kicking off with recent experimental sounds, funky house courtesy of Buscemi, Talkin' Loud contributions from Incognito and Nu Yorican Soul, and moving through to the 60's jazz of Willis Jackson, mixed faultlessly into Jimmy Smith's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" Tribe Called Quest link the jazz to '60s Brazilian artists Luiz Arruda Paez and the incredible Elza Soares. Space funk, salsa, bossa and deep house round it out. Disc two is less about the mixing and layering, and is more concerned with selection and sinking deep into the sounds. A favourite section sees the slinky, staccato, off tempo beats of Vikter Duplaix' "Messages" riding through to meet the strings and horns of Freddie Hubbard's still unbelievable "Little Sunflower," followed by the beautiful downtempo of MJ Cole and Underwolves, Andy Bey's melancholic folk, and the killer, pointed soul of the Isley Brothers' "Ohio." Talkin' loud and saying something indeed. This one is special.