Ashley Henry: Who We Are review – upbeat innovation from a pianist with talent to burn

Henry’s 2019 debut, Beautiful Vinyl Hunter , showed the London-born pianist was very much his own man; he played, sang, composed and produced, while attracting a weighty bunch of collaborators. Most striking of all was its musical diversity, a meld of jazz, soul and hip-hop. Who We Are pursues the same innovative grail and at a likewise generous 14 tracks. The mood is almost relentlessly upbeat, borne along on Henry’s love of plunging chords and funky riffs. Opener Love Is Like a Movie is a case in point, a droll romantic call beautifully sung by Judi Jackson, after which come Take It Higher , whose strings and massed vocals recall Nuyorican Soul, and the title track , a plea for a slower, more collective lifestyle. Nina Simone’s Mississippi Goddam gets the same widescreen treatment, and while Henry’s lush falsetto doesn’t have the muscle to nail home Simone’s anger, he makes up for it with keyboard cascades. The stylings keep pivoting: Fly Away is an ethereal spoken word piece by US poet and activist Aja Monet, All for You a rapid-fire tirade from homegrown rapper Mak, and later come fierce but joyous exchanges with Binker Golding’s sax and Theo Croker’s bell-like trumpet. A utopian suite from a remarkable talent.