The Kings Of Jazz

The Kings Of... series continues in its aim of bringing you forgotten and neglected gems from the world of music. Each of the previous volumes has explored a different genre (Disco, Funk, Hip-Hop, House) and each has coupled luminaries of the genre to choose tracks that have influenced or been special to them in some way. This, the fifth volume, ventures into the vast, exciting world of Jazz. Influential DJ/Broadcaster Gilles Peterson pairs up with producer/remixer collective Jazzanova to bring you a selection of their top tracks across 2 CD's.

Gilles Peterson: The man Time Out magazine recently called 'the one man justification for the existence of Radio 1' started broadcasting over 20 years ago on London's burgeoning pirate radio scene. Alongside his DJ'ing at various nights across South London he started the label Talkin Loud in the early 90's. Home to a wide variety of acts extending into many genres, notable signings were Drum & Bass DJ Roni Size (winner of the 1997 Mercury Music Prize) and jazz-edged Hip-Hop legends The Roots. His Worldwide show on Radio 1 continues to explore the boundaries of World Music.

Jazzanova are a 'kollektiv' based in Berlin responsible for remixes to tracks by such artists as 4 Hero, King Britt and Roy Ayers. Their first big break actually came when Kings Of Jazz co-compiler Gilles played their first production on Kiss in 1997. Since then they have been able to work with a wide variety of artists, remixing tracks with a nu-Jazz twist. Their production draws influences from many genres and styles; Soul, House and not least Jazz.

Gilles delves deep into his extensive library,digging up tracks like the blues-tinged saxophone recording of John Coltrane or the slow piano of Bill Evans (which ends the CD perfectly) to up-tempo pieces such as 'Anthenagin' and a laid-back version of 'My FavoriteThings' by Mark Murphy. Peterson visits every decade from the 50's to the 80's and turns up an array of under-appreciated tracks by some of the most important names in jazz.

The Jazzanova side explores a range of contemporary styles that have been influenced by jazz and given different names from broken beat to jazz-house and electronica.They choose everything from Innerzone Orchestra's upbeat electro-jazz 'At Les' to more traditional pieces like 4 hero's modern jazz classic 'Spirits InTransit'. Also included are a live version of Bembe Segue's 'Mother Of The Future' and Hedvig Hanson's lantin tinged 'AfroWhite' .