Words by Patrick Swift

“I think we have to adapt and do what we can with what we have and try to be as resourceful as possible.” London-born jazz pianist and composer Ashley Henry is staying positive given the circumstances of a global pandemic, which have dramatically affected the lives of touring musicians like him.

Despite the current limitations on live music, Ashley can only be encouraged by the response to his recorded music. His triumphant debut album, ‘Beautiful Vinyl Hunter’, was released in September 2019 via Sony Music. Since it dropped, it’s been streamed over 2.9 million times. The album also won album of the year at the 2019 Jazz Japan Awards, alongside being nominated at the Jazz FM Awards 2020 and Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide Awards 2020. While the accolades are appreciated, they’re not everything for the enthusiastic South Londoner.

“Getting messages from people, especially during this time, saying my record’s really helped them through the hard times, that means so much more to me than awards. Obviously, it’s amazing to get award recognition, but for my music to be able to resonate with people from different walks of life, that’s the biggest compliment for me.” 

'Beautiful Vinyl Hunter' is an album that merges many influences and is a testament to Ashley Henry’s effortless talent as a composer and pianist. It’s a modern take mainly on jazz but on other genres too and is an accomplished body of work as far as debut albums go. It was recorded at London’s Livingston Studios (Ashley praises Livingston for its versatility as a studio) and features collaborators like American vocalist Judi Jackson, American jazz trumpeter Keyon Harrold and Chicago-based drummer Makaya McCraven. “The album fell together quite naturally because all the people on the album, they’re people that I’ve toured with, recorded with and hung out with, so there was already a musical grounding and that connection. Theo Croker and Keyon Harrold, I’ve toured with them a lot, with Sparkz too. I recorded Makaya McCraven for his album ‘Universal Beings’ at the same time."

One of Ashley’s early musical memories comes from living on a council estate in Gipsy Hill in South East London. “That was a big melting pot for the Afro-Caribbean community. My godparents nearby owned a sound-system, and my parents would take us to all these parties. Those were some of my earliest musical experiences and that solidified in me from an early age what music means, the effect it has and how it brings people together.” 

Growing up, Ashley was in a house where one older sister would be playing jungle, drum ’n’ bass and UK garage. His other older sister would be playing hip-hop, R&B and soul. Downstairs, his parents were playing Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Prince. “Moving through those different rooms and hearing all these different styles, I was a sponge soaking it all up.” 

Seeing family members perform on TV was also a big inspiration. “My uncle was a session keyboard player and played with a lot of artists during the acid jazz movement, like Soul II Soul. Getting to see him perform when I was a kid was a big one for me, I thought it was normal to have people close to you that do music. When I got a bit older I realised, oh, okay, it’s not normal!” 

For 2020’s Black History Month, Ashley performed Nina Simone’s ‘Mississippi Goddam’ on Channel 4’s ‘Sing It Loud: Black and Proud’ programme, filmed at the world-famous Ronnie Scott’s. Watch that and you will see Ashley in his element, although it’s a little trickier to tell he’s a towering 6ft 6” when he’s seated behind his piano.

‘Sing It Loud: Black and Proud’ host Maya Jama alluded to the fact that Ashley has been described as the ultimate piano player, but he would come to jazz a little later on in life. “I didn’t really get into jazz until I was a lot older, I came up playing classical piano from the local piano teacher. Thinking about it, I’m the only Black UK jazz artist that didn’t come up through a Saturday jazz school or institution like Tomorrow’s Warriors when I was a kid, so my outlook, approach and style is quite different.” Ashley is jovial throughout our conversation, and makes these kinds of statements without ego - it’s more like he’s thinking out loud and coming to the realisation for the first time himself.

“I didn’t fall in love with playing the piano until I was in my early teens, I was told to do it because I was told I was good at it, and I kept it up. I became advanced quickly so I started to fall in love with the classical music that was more expressive. Things like the Late Romantic stuff, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Debussy. That’s when I really started to embrace playing the piano, because the expressive side of it, you’re exposed to it more the more advanced you get.” 

From the age of 16 to 18, Ashley was enrolled at the BRIT School in Croydon where Loyle Carner (who has just released a single produced by Madlib) was one of his classmates. As a result, Henry would go on to be part of Loyle Carner’s live band and tour worldwide with the UK rapper alongside writing and recording with him on his new material. He’s also recently been a member of French synth-pop star Christine and the Queens’ touring band and traveling all over the world. 

It was an occurrence in 2014 that would push Ashley to really start composing seriously. When he graduated from Leeds Conservatoire’s Music (Jazz) programme, Ashley won the Yamaha Jazz Scholarship. Acquiring a keyboard as part of the grant, it was that instrument that aided in opening lot of other doors. “When you graduate from one of the music colleges they pick one jazz musician from each college and give them this award. You have to record an original composition, at the time I was writing but not really. I was workshopping and doing shows. I had to record a new composition and then it went onto this CD, and then that CD went out on an issue of Jazzwise. That’s how my name got out there as a composer, and it got a really good reaction. People were asking me when my next music is coming out, so I thought I’d better keep writing!"

The Yamaha MOXF6 is one of his favourite keyboards. “I love my Nord Stage 3, I use that all the time. I like to mic up my acoustic piano as well because, at the same time, there’s nothing like an acoustic piano, to have that authenticity and that feel.”

In terms of the broader jazz scene, Ashley is optimistic for the future of what is a really healthy scene right now. “Jazz doesn’t need to be this secret club you can’t get into, it can be inclusive. People that aren’t clued up on jazz, they can get into it and really understand and vibe with it.” 

“There’s a wave of us that are writing jazz to reflect our influences. As Black British people, we're still quite new. I’m only second generation, my parents were born in Jamaica. In terms of the jazz, we’re making, it’s still brewing. We all have our own influences, so reflecting that with the jazz that we’re into, it’s still quite new. And all the sub-genres that have come out of that British culture, grime, drum ’n’ bass, it wasn’t invented that long ago. It was only inevitable that jazz musicians like myself and so many others would incorporate that into their jazz.” 

Even though doing worldwide music tours with the likes of Christine and the Queens and Loyle Carner isn’t a thing right now, Ashley is still busy writing for various different projects. “At the moment I’m working with a great MC, Kofi Stone, and quite a few other artists. Film and TV as well, I’m currently working with the producers of This Is England and Top Boy on a documentary that reflects the Black struggle, but in a more unique way. My album definitely positioned me even more as a producer now that people know that I self-produced it.” 

Looking forward to hopefully a more positive year for artists (and the world), Ashley Henry has numerous shows pencilled in and exciting projects on the go with artists such as Loyle Carner, Christine and the Queens, Frankie Stew & Harvey Gunn and Ego Ella May.