News / / 22.01.14

WORLDWIDE AWARDS

Koko | January 18th

Saturday must have felt pretty special for Gilles Peterson. Firstly he took his Brussels-born buddy DJ Lefto to a sun-sprinkled Emirates where the duo witnessed Spaniard Santi Cazorla’s brace sink Fulham 2-0 and send his beloved Arsenal to the top of the Premier League.

At the final whistle he zipped over to nearby Koko to host the ninth edition of his flagship Worldwide Awards – a seven-hour, sold-out musical extravaganza showcasing musicians and DJs he has given a leg up, with paternal zeal. Further, this was the first time the event was streamed live, disseminating the Radio 6 Music presenter’s carefully-cultivated cast on stage to an even wider audience.

Peeking behind the old theatre’s main curtain he would have felt a surge of invincibility, scanning the thousands of adoring, head-nodding fans, which he has affectively hand-picked, having tempted them – through his various radio shows, podcasts and diverse-sounding CDs – to explore a little deeper with him on his sonic journey.

 

Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Awards 2014

 

The London-based tastemaker has every reason to go with his instincts. He has travelled the globe digging for appealing tracks since he was a teenager – “joining the dots,” Peterson himself says –from jazz to electronica via Brazil, Africa and the musical gaps between. It was testament to the trust his supporters have in him that he was able to fill out Koko with a line-up largely shorn of high-profile acts, at least to the uninitiated. Closing in on his sixth decade, Brownswood Records honcho Peterson is becoming bolder in his selections.

On this occasion the prime-time slots, from 9.45pm onwards, were berthed by Americans, firstly in the form of Appalachian bluegrass singer-songwriter Valerie June. The sixth act on a tightly-packed roster, she offered pained lyrics served with a honeyed voice, and was accompanied initially with a banjo and later joined by more instruments.

Doubtlessly captivating, it was followed up by a 15-minute set from Christian Rich, the Chicago-born, Nigeria-raised, Los Angeles-based producer and DJ duo composed of twin brothers Taiwo Hassan and Kehinde Hassan. With little time to impress, they were sandwiched by June and LA-based neo-soul band The Internet, fronted by 21-year-old Syd Tha Kyd, who most notably removed her shoes to reveal stripy socks. Their studio performance is better than their stage presence, was the overall verdict.

 

Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Awards 2014

 

After that American trio came Toddla T, whose beats were starting to kick things into gear before he was yanked offstage after 15 minutes. He was replaced by another American: overgrown and bedraggled rapper Jonwayne, whose 25 minutes was the most afforded to any performer (aside from Berlin brothers Kyodai, who filled the final hour until 3am with their excellent brand of worldly deep house).

Jonwayne, seemingly saddlesore, stumbled about the stage looking like a portly Californian surfer. From the back of the venue his lyrics were indecipherable, yet it was little surprise that his Rap Album One gained the nod for album of the year.

 

Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Awards 2014

 

And even still there were plenty of glimpses of genuine freshness – but that’s all they were: fleeting moments, due to the enforced time constraints, which left the audience’s heads rather scrambled. Mount Kimbie’s DJ session was a mere 20 minutes; Lefto – for many people, the stand-out set – had but quarter of an hour. Ade Suleiman had even less: 600 seconds. And Swindle shared his portion with Omar and Teri Walker later on.

Peterson sure enough achieved the goal of providing his listeners with an eclectic mix of styles and genre-bending acts. However, no one in the spotlight was afforded adequate time to truly convince the Koko audience or those linked in to the live stream.

If Arsène Wenger had hauled off Cazorla against the Cottagers after 20 minutes it would have been a pointless exercise in more ways than one. Peterson, even with the half-century in sight, would do will to learn a lesson from Le Prof.

 

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gillespetersonworldwide.com

Words: Oliver Pickup

Photos: Tom D Morgan

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