South East London producer and musician Ben Hayes possess a rare and chameleon-like ability to contour the essence and emotion of subject and style in his productions, whilst consistently managing to guide to the fore individual elements that give his musical moulds a natural shine. With training in jazz bass and influences in beats and the bedrock complexities of Arabic and African sounds, it’s no wonder his services have been called upon in collaborations and projects with soulstress Poppy Ajudha, jazz-hop crew Sumochief and afro-jazz collective Maisha.
Today we premiere the first track ‘Ala’, off Hayes’ latest personal project, We Must Cultivate EP. Siphoning just some of his demonstrable talents into a beautiful journeying seven minutes, Hayes glides from lush jazz infused soundscapes of floating Rhodes keys, synapse-like synth twitches, into deep head bopping grooves with effortlessly introduced live instrumentation. At times ‘Ala’ draws comparison to the work of Shigeto and Floating Points, as Hayes has clearly honed and developed an ear, evident in his other works.
For more music check Hayes’ Soundcloud. You can catch the Ben Hayes Trio this Friday at The Duke in Deptford, coming highly recommended. Ala is taken from the We Must Cultivate EP, available soon.
