Ashley Henry

Ashley Henry's approach to sound reflects his London upbringing and Caribbean roots. His cross-genre sound and collaborative practice is grounded in classical training and a careful study of the radical black tradition, its futurism and history, its pulse, its restlessness and its serenity. His music is influenced by the work of James Baldwin and Angela Davis as well as Ahmed Jamal, George Benson, Geri Allen and Aretha Franklin.

His profound sound compositions have produced some of the best contemporary jazz vocalists in the UK. As a sound artist, he was the first musician to be commissioned by the Royal Observatory; he curated and founded the Freestyle Fellowship, inviting Shabaka Hutchings, Blue Lab Beats and Binker Golding to support the UK Mental Health Foundation and musicians during the Covid pandemic. His performance on Ronnie Scott's Live Stream was the most streamed live jazz performance in Europe in 2020. As an ambassador for the Abram Wilson Foundation, Henry founded his own label Royal Raw Music in partnership with naïve / Believe in 2023 with the aim of pushing the boundaries of artistic expression and collaboration ever further.