Please note this is an old page and Fly Global Music has now moved. Please follow this link and search for the entry in the new site.

The BBC Sessions allows you to experience among other treasures, Roots getting all old-school and funky on ‘Melting Pot’, ex-Portishead singer Beth Gibbons getting all haunting on ‘Romance’ and Roots Manuva’s excellent ‘Dreamy Days’, relive some of the best moments of the Worldwide show and hear some tracks that never made it to air.

There is a fair coverage of improvised pieces and jams with all the imperfections that really make a live performance, something many mainstream acts would rather not risk at all. It is about adventure in music, risk, and demonstrating skills and pride in live performance.

The eminent Mr P has built up a fair body of work from his live sessions and I dare say choices for what was to go into The BBC Sessions were made with due heartwrenching and anguished decisions. His latest presentation represents an already huge and diverse body of live work, including some of the groups Peterson championed over his past five years on the Radio 1 Worldwide slot, such as New Zealand fusioneers, Fat Freddy’s Drop. This compilation contains some of the finest cuts while hinting at the crying shame that there is so much more that is simply archived after one airing, or worse still is archived without ever reaching a listener’s ear.

The name of this game is without doubt live in its many and varied forms — from the huge Heritage Orchestra (a funny track to kick off on), the stunning ‘Audience’, from Matthew Herbert, N.E.R.D’s playful jam, to a superb and moving collaboration between Björk and Rahzel. You can’t help but stand back in admiration at the man who gets this force of live talent on the air in the face of overwhelming trash, who pushes experimental and global vibes out to a public gasping for fresh sounds. Bring on volume two.

The BBC Sessions is released on 31 October.

Gilles Peterson presents the BBC Sessions live at Cargo on 27 October and at the Barbican on 20 November with the Heritage Orchestra, Robert Glasper Trio and other guests.

4-7pm Kinetika celebrating the music of Fela Kuti + Adbullah Ibrahim (Foyer)
7-8pm GP on the decks

8pm The BBC Sessions live with the Heritage Orchestra, Robert Glasper Trio, Eska, Mozez (Zero 7), Dwele and special guests

• Tuesday 15th — Brighton, Union
• Wed 16th — Birmingham, Custard Factory
• Thursday 17th — Manchester, Sankeys
• Friday 18th — Sheffield, Dot Zero
• Sat 19th — Leeds, Hi Fi Club
• Tuesday 22nd — Cardif, The Point

All the dates (not including the Barbican) feature Steve Reid playing live