Events

In order to repay you guys for your great support over the past year, we have put something pretty special together for our birthday show. We present to you, Mr. Gilles Peterson (MBE).

Gilles and his inspiring outlook on worldwide music massively influenced the materialization of So Flute and having followed him religiously for a few years now, we owe a lot of what we are doing in Manchester to this man.

So we thought what better way to celebrate our first year as a club night, than inviting Gilles to play So Flute in what we’re sure will be one of the biggest nights that The Roadhouse has seen in a good while.

Born in France to a Parisian mother and Swiss father, Gilles began making musical vibrations in London on various pirate and legal radio stations, later being recruited to BBC’s Radio 1 in 1998, where he became an integral part of their setup for thirteen years. Last year Gilles moved to BBC Radio 6 where he hosts his weekly Saturday afternoon radio show Worldwide.

As well as presenting at the BBC, Gilles has been continually involved with releasing incredible music. He co-founded the hugely influential Acid Jazz Records, established in 1988 and then went on to found Talkin’ Loud Records in 1990.

In 2006, Brownswood Records was created. The labels name came from the London road where Gilles previously lived before his record collection grew too big forcing him to move out. The property is kept as a studio and space to store his immense collection of music. Brownswood has consistently released quality underground worldwide music including the soulful Brownswood Bubblers Compilations and Ghostpoet’s mercury-nominated album Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam.

Gilles’ love of jazz and Cuba led him to create the Havana Cultura project, giving birth to two amazing volumes of modern jazz fused with traditional Cuban music. Most recently the label released the groundbreaking Mala in Cuba LP, a forward thinking release that has set new standards for producers worldwide.

Gilles also hosts and compiles his two annual Worldwide festivals, based in Leysin (Switzerland) and Sete in the South of France. Some of the artists to have played for Gilles in recent years include Moodymann, Carl Cox, Little Dragon, Lefto, Gregory Porter, Four Tet, Julio Bashmore, Floating Points, Mosca, Mala, Joy Orbison, Quantic, Flying Lotus, Dam Funk, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble…the list goes on…

Gilles Peterson has performed DJ sets globally for many years, journeying to Kazakhstan, Rio, Martinique, Havana, Tokyo, Istanbul, New York, Paris, Beijing and beyond. He is held in the highest regard throughout the world. One of his most recent performances was a roof raising set at Bestival this summer where he warmed up for Stevie Wonder in front of tens of thousands of people.

It has been far too long since the musical wizard was seen DJing in the North of England (over 3 years since his last DJ set in Manchester according to our research). So, naturally, we thought it was about time that changed.

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.

So Flute presents Gilles Peterson, Friday 8th February. Manchester is not going to know what has hit it.