“I’m all over the place at the moment” she confides in me as I interrupt her busy morning. But first things first, what’s that you’re listening to? “Oh, it’s Zap Mama’s album of a few years ago Ancestry In Progress”. Not only was this album the one with ‘Bandy Bandy’ on it featuring Erykah Badu (and other guest appearances by ?uestlove, Common and Talib Kweli) and produced by Anthony Tidd, it so happens that one of my first interviews for FLY was with a certain Aaron Jerome who was just starting out at the time with the incredibe remix of ‘Bandy Bandy’.

Anyway, musically I was very much at home and it seemed a good time to go back in history as until fairly recently, she was best know as the producer of Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide Radio Show.

“If there’s one thing I miss most about not being at the BBC is the Maida Vale Sessions”, she says. Just have a look at the 2005 tracklising page and there’s so many great sessions that just stand out (see Ammon Contact & Daedelus, Heritage Orchestra, Dwight Trible and Break Reform), some of which went onto Gilles Peterson Presents - The BBC Sessions (Volume 1); “there were some really special sessions”. Hey, we’re not saying the Worldwide show has lost it’s appeal. Far from it as the Heliocentrics supporting Mulatu Astatke this year was one of the best ever (see review HERE).

Back to the Maida Vale sessions, “the real special ones were where they artists decided to do something special and made that little bit extra effort like Roots Manuva’s cocktail session (that was session of the year) or the collaborations where we had a look at who was in town that week and put them together, like Dwele and Roy Hargrove on ‘Red Clay’ or Roy Ayres with Kindred Spirit”. She adds, “my favourite of them all was the Roots session where Maida Vale was booked so all 12 members of the band squeezed into Radio 1’s Live Lounge studio that’s the size of a bedroom with low ceiling. “The other really exciting ones were The Matthew Herbert Big Band with a live audience (more Mr. Herbert news HERE) and getting Chris Bowden with forty other musicians of the Heritage Orchestra into Maida Vale”

In her time at the BBC, a mere 12 years, she worked with most of the DJ’s including the late John Peel but she says “Gilles’ show was the best as it was the most freestyle. I used to put post it notes on tracks I liked. It was great when he did play these or the time when your dream artist did the show, like Beck”. I can still sense the excitement in her voice even now.

All that was 3 years ago and she left to join the Red Bull Music Academy and last year her own company, Karen P Productions. Gilles played a track from the CD a couple of weeks ago and mentioned that you’re a Sony Prize winner, how big is this Sony? “It’s the radio equivalent to an Oscar!” she explains, “as were are a new company, we weren’t sure whether to enter but to be nominated and then to win gold was amazing”. “We want it to be inspirational” and it is, check out the Book Slam Podcast (see links below) which supports the monthly literary club night at Neighbourhood. “The whole idea is to bring books to a wider audience”, a bit like …Broadcasting for music? “Yeah, I hope so”.

So when Jazzanova were looking for someone to compile the third edition of their …Broadcasting compilation series, who better than Karen? The CD is coming out 30th June and follows previous editions from Jazzanova and Dirk Rumpff from OFFtrack Radio.

The album is kicks off with a Si Begg and Karen P production ‘Broadcasting Across The Valley’, “The idea was to have some jingles like a radio show. I’ve known Si for years and he’s very open to new sounds so we worked on some ideas, back and forth, as I wanted it to be like watching a film and being scared in a forest. I’ve always been scared of the Moomins since I was little; I’m obsessed with Moomins”. But this isn’t the sound we usually associate with Mr. Begg? “Have you heard the 12” of ‘Into The Water’? This is the closing jingle on the album but there’s a full-length version on the 12”. “It starts dubby but drops into a dirty dark beat. Jazzanova have been playing it and it works really well in a club”. The 12” is already out with Stereotyp’s ‘Take The Weight’ from one of our favourite albums Keepin Me with a part Simbad produced Tettory Bad featuring another voice of the future, Fatima on a Sa-Raesque beat, ‘Unite (One)’.

Talking of favourites, I see you couldn’t resist putting on a small track by your old mate Becky J (now of Tunng) and the excellent Tunng remix of Viva Voce’s ‘Wrecking Ball’. How much of a surprise was it to find out Becky was leaving the Beeb to join a band? “Well, Becky had been working with Max Tundra on Domino Records so when Mike (Lindsay) asked me if I could recommend a vocalist for his new project I didn’t hesitate in saying your need Becky”. Indeed they did and they were great at Wynchwood the other year and Comments Of The Inner Chorus is a modern classic, “Becky fits in beautifully with the band and I picked ‘Wrecking Ball’ as it so very Tunng”.

So the album is less clubby the previous …Broadcastings, “I wanted to keep it like a radio show whilst keeping the atmospheric cinematic theme” like the soul-folk of rising stars Jamie Woon (‘Robots’ is the first we’ve heard since ‘Wayfairing Stranger’) and Damon Aaron.
One of my favourites on the ablum is the track ‘Short Stories’, why wasn’t that a massive hit? “It’s one of those”, she says “Anthony Tidd was living in Philly and it didn’t get the right promotion but it’s always been a track that I loved to go back to”. Quite Sane was a project that included Robert Mitchell, Eska and Mpho Skeef and they just don’t do jazzy hip-hop like that anymore.

And talking of old jazz, what can you tell us about the Rene Costy track. “A friend of mine sent me a mp3 of ‘Scrabble’ and even if you didn’t know it was the sample in the J Dilla track (F*** The Police), it’s still a brilliant track; as it was a library record it was the most difficult to get permission to use” (library records, cinematic themes, jingles and jazz, this sounds very Jonny Trunk to me). So was there anything that didn’t get in? “I started with a list of 50 and I’d have loved to have included Hi-Tek’s ‘Get Ta Steppin” or Gomez but there were some issues with the major labels. But I’m very happy with the way all the tracks fit together nicely”.

It certainly does as favourites that we’ve featured on FLY before include Owusu & Hannibal ‘Blue Jay’, Aaron Jerome, Mocky and Jimi Tenor.

There is a particular left fielder, the Moomins track? “I’m obsessed with Moomins” she tells me but before that, back to the monthly club night …Broadcasting, in addition to Mulatu Astatke notable guests have included Little Dragon and Jimi Tenor. Karen’s just back from the Berlin CD launch but the next club night (26th June) at Cargo with Black Spade, who is also featured on the CD and was featured on the HVW8 Presents: Music Is My Art compilation on Ubiquity.

The other element that links the club night and the album cover is the fine artwork of Maria Tackmann, “Yes, we’re incredibly lucky to have her doing the artwork, it’s very individual and she’s also done lots of others for SK like Secret Love 4, Beats, Bites & Öxle and Sunchild

Hang on! I’ve just fallin in. This Moomins isn’t some obscure jazz sect but the Tove Jansson’s popular Scandinavian children’s book/cartoon? “Yeah, that’s the one. I’m obsessed with Moomins” she told me for about the third time. “I was in a record shop in Helsinki with my Mum and I saw this classic and had to get it”. And how did you get to Helsinki’? “Well, my Mum won a competition in the Southend Echo”. Well played Mum. These hippo shaped creatures are hardly the 5 Corners Quintet but if you’re into jazz Basil Kirchin (he so loved by Jonny Trunk) style, ‘Pikku Myyn Laulu (Lilla Mys Visa)’ is a find as stunning as Hear, O Israel.

Other things you should aware of on the Karen P airwaves, she’s helped set up a Radio project for the Roundhouse, she’s heading off to the Garden Festival in Croatia soon and Bestival (her first time) and continues to do a multitude of things with old mate Becky with her company Karen P Productions.

So to finish off, apart from Zap Mama, what else are you listening to at the moment? “Voice Of The Seven Woods’s album on Twisted Nerve. It that came out last year and it’s really beautiful and seems to have been overlooked, Tawiah who is being looked after by Ross Allen (he of Casual/Foresight: Urban and, of course, Aaron Jerome’s album Time To Rearrange of course”. All different, all quality; just like Karen P …Broadcasting.

See HERE for review of the CD …Broadcasting release date 30th June, 2008.

Links
www.karenp.co.uk
www.cargo-london.com/event/broad-casting
www.jazzanova.net
www.sonarkollektiv.com
Monday night (16th) Makossa and Megablast will be playing at the Volksgarten Banane for our Puma friends too. Check that, should be mental after the Austria vs. Germany game.
www.myspace.com/blackspade
www.myspace.com/tawiah
Gilles Peterson :: 22th May 2008 :: Charlie Dark in the Studio & 2000 Black Maida Vale Session
Fatima - ‘Territory Bad’ (Test)
Cargo, live music venue nr Shoreditch High Street, under the arches, live music, Street Food Café + licensed bar, Cargo, 83 Rivington Street, Shoreditch, … www.cargo-london.com
www.brandyflower.com/damon.html
www.myspace.com/damonaaron
www.sibegg.com
www.myspace.com/sibegg
www.echo-news.co.uk
www.myspace.com/mmaxtundra
Becky Jacobs wins a Sony Gold award for her literary podcast “The award is the biggest accolade you can get in radio,” Ms Jacobs, 32, tells People. “It’s huge for me and for the company I work for [Karen P Productions]. It means the radio industry will recognise us.” A radio producer for seven years (and daughter of this newspaper’s literary editor), Ms Jacobs also sings in the experimental folk-cum-electronica band Tunng. The band has been invited to play at next month’s Southbank Centre’s Meltdown Festival, alongside Massive Attack.
www.myspace.com/voiceofthesevenwoods
www.myspace.com/djrossallen
www.moomin.fi