Now is the Time!: 21st Century British Jazz

A definitive discographic guide to the resurgent wave of British Jazz music over the last 15 years, compiled by the DJ and broadcaster Gilles Peterson, one of the most significant figures in British Jazz in modern times. The last fifteen years have seen a renaissance in British Jazz as a new young and diverse generation of players fusing jazz music with a wide-array of cultural influences to be found uniquely in London and around the UK – including afrobeat, hip-hop, reggae, dubstep, grime, future soul and electronic music. Artists such as Ezra Collective, Shabaka Hutchings, Nubya Garcia, Sons of Kemet, Moses Boyd and Yussef Dayes blend technical skills with a new-found cultural energy to give 21st Century British Jazz a new identity that nonetheless draws upon the lineage and pantheon of the great modern American jazz artists – John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Pharoah Sanders, Herbie Hancock, Elvin Jones et al. Gilles Peterson has been the entry point into the careers of many of the musicians featured in this book and is in a unique position to tell this story. Aside from his position as a trusted BBC radio broadcaster and club DJ, he is also an avid record collector and most of the records featured here have been personally given to him by the artists. In this book he has brought together a definitive and unparalleled collection of new wave British Jazz releases. The book features 100s of stunning and striking artworks, often uniquely designed specifically for him. This book is a near-complete guide to the record releases of every new British Jazz artist to emerge in the last fifteen years lovingly brought together by perhaps the most-important figure in bringing this music to a global audience.