147: Gilles Peterson | Kassa Overall

Gilles Peterson is one of the most influential DJs and music curators in the world. Throughout his career, Peterson has played a pivotal role in promoting genres such as jazz, hip-hop, and electronic music. He has founded influential labels such as Acid Jazz and Talkin' Loud, and started his current label, Brownswood Recordings, in 2006. Whether as a broadcaster, live DJ, record producer, festival organizer, or music curator, Peterson has devoted his life to finding, contextualizing, and presenting the music he loves from around the world. He sees his job as “connecting the dots.”

One of Peterson’s most recent discoveries, Kassa Overall is, in the words of Time Out New York, “a Renaissance man: part chopsy, super-funky jazz drummer, and part rising producer-MC.” Since the January 2019 release of his critically acclaimed debut album Go Get Ice Cream and Listen to Jazz, NYC and global audiences have had the opportunity to experience Overall’s unique blend of jazz, hip hop, electronic and spoken word.

Kassa and I first spoke in 2019 and this conversation is a bit of a reunion. His forthcoming release, I Think I’m Good, will be released on Brownswood Recordings. The first single “I Know You See Me” is out now.

I spoke to both Gilles and Kassa at the 2020 NY Winter Jazzfest.

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