Gilles’ broadcasting roots lie with the burgeoning pirate radio movement in South London during the early 1980s. Inspired by the exciting blend of music broadcast on pirate stations such as Radio Invicta, he set up his own – Civic Radio – and then succeeded in bagging himself a slot on Invicta in exchange for his fully-functioning transmitter. With his foot firmly wedged in the door, Gilles went on to present on a string of pirate stations – KJAZZ, Solar Radio and On Horizon, before landing at BBC London with his show Mad On Jazz.

With Talkin’ Loud, an imprint born out of the acid jazz movement, Gilles earned 5 Mercury Music Prize nominations (4hero, Courtney Pine, Young Disciples, MJ Cole and Roni Size Reprazent – the winner in 1997) and assured his reputation as the tastemaker was assured. A short stint at Jazz FM was followed by an 8-year residency at Kiss FM, where he built the foundations of his enduringly popular Worldwide radio show. Taking Worldwide to BBC Radio 1 in 1998, he has enjoyed 12 years (and counting) broadcasting the “Worldwide” sound to receptive ears. The formula for Gilles’ radio shows is a simple one: the finest new music he can lay his hands on… and that’s it. From Sun-Ra to Roy Hargrove to Theo Parrish to Flying Lotus – if it swings in the right places, it’s in. His show is a marker for everything that is great about underground music from Brooklyn to Benin and beyond. In addition to his BBC Radio 1 show, Gilles records a weekly Worldwide program that is syndicated to 12 stations across the planet including FM4 in Austria, B92 in Serbia, Radio Nova in France and J-Wave, Japan’s no.1 commercial station.

The “Worldwide” tag extends to two annual musical extravaganzas – the Worldwide Festival and the Worldwide Awards. The Worldwide Festival takes place in July in the south of France, bringing together a handpicked line-up of Gilles’ favourite artists, bands and DJs for a 4-day party in the Mediterranean sun. His annual Worldwide Awards session in London celebrates the finest emerging talent championed by GP and tips its cap to heroes and innovators from days gone by.

Establishing a new, independent record label – Brownswood Recordings – in 2005 as an outlet for his favorite new discoveries, Gilles hasn’t been afraid of signing new, hitherto undiscovered talent such as Ben Westbeech, Jose James, Owiny Sigoma Band or Elan Mehler in addition to the face-melting Death Jazz stylings of Japanese sextet SOIL&”PIMP” SESSIONS. Most recently, Gilles spearheaded a collaborative project with Havana Club called Havana Cultura. In 2009, Gilles teamed up with the award-winning Cuban jazz pianist Roberto Fonseca to find the very best up and coming musical talent in Havana. Twelve months in the making, it represents the biggest collection of contemporary Cuban musicians in a single musical initiative since the highly acclaimed Buena Vista Social Club project in 1997. With Gilles revelling in his role as Executive Producer, the Havana Cultura Band cut loose in the legendary Egrem Studios for five days, with a string of guest vocalists stepping up to the mic from Mayra Caridad Valdés, Doble Filo, Obsesión, Ogguere and Danay. Flitting between Latin, Afro-jazz, funk, rumba, reggaeton and hip hop, Havana Cultura truly is a celebration of Cuba’s freshest musical talent.

When all is said and done, whichever role Gilles is performing – DJ, broadcaster, producer, compiler, label boss or plain old record collector – the music is always the bottom line. His passion and enthusiasm is unfailing and deeply infectious, and it’s the reason that his BBC iPlayer stats routinely nestle in the Top 5 BBC Radio 1 shows… that luminaries like Radiohead’s Thom Yorke or Erykah Badu drop in to co-present special shows… and that his knowledge, opinion and playlists are universally respected.

Performance Date @ Crimson Lounge: August 17, 2011

Official Web Site: CLICK HERE

Official Facebook Page: CLICK HERE