Moses Boyd (born 30 April 1991) is a British
jazz drummer
Jazz drumming is the art of playing percussion (predominantly the drum kit, which includes a variety of drums and cymbals) in jazz styles ranging from 1910s-style Dixieland jazz to 1970s-era jazz fusion and 1980s-era Latin jazz. The techniques a ...
, composer, record producer, bandleader and radio host. His debut solo studio album ''
Dark Matter
Dark matter is a hypothetical form of matter thought to account for approximately 85% of the matter in the universe. Dark matter is called "dark" because it does not appear to interact with the electromagnetic field, which means it does not a ...
'' (2020) was nominated for the
2020 Mercury Prize.
In 2014, Boyd and saxophonist
Binker Golding formed the duo Binker & Moses and released three consecutive albums, with accolades including one
MOBO Award
The MOBO Awards (Music of Black Origin, also known as the MOBOs) are an annual British music award presentation honouring achievements in " music of black origin", including hip hop, grime, UK Drill, R&B, soul, reggae, jazz, gospel, and ...
, two
Jazz FM Awards and a
Parliamentary Jazz Award. In 2022, Binker & Moses released their fourth album, ''Feeding the Machine'', to critical acclaim.
Boyd's self-titled jazz band Moses Boyd Exodus (also known as the Exodus) released several mixtapes in the mid-2010s and together have recorded most of Boyd's solo releases. The group consists of
Theon Cross (
tubist), Artie Zaitz (guitarist), Binker Golding (saxophonist) and Nathaniel Cross (trombonist).
Under his own label, Exodus Records, Boyd made his solo debut with the extended play ''Absolute Zero'' in 2017, and followed it up with ''Displaced Diaspora'' in 2018. He has additionally collaborated with musicians such as
Beyoncé,
Little Simz
Simbiatu "Simbi" Abisola Abiola Ajikawo (born 23 February 1994), better known by her stage name Little Simz, is a British rapper, singer and actress. She rose to prominence with the independent release of her first three albums; ''A Curious Tale ...
,
Lonnie Liston Smith
Lonnie Liston Smith Jr. (born December 28, 1940) is an American jazz, soul, and funk musician who played with such jazz artists as Pharoah Sanders and Miles Davis before forming Lonnie Liston Smith and the Cosmic Echoes, recording a number of ...
,
Zara McFarlane,
Obongjayar,
Ed Motta
Eduardo "Ed" Motta (; born August 17, 1971) is a Brazilian MPB, rock, soul, funk and jazz musician. He is the nephew of late singer-songwriter Tim Maia.
Career
Son of Luzia Motta, sister of Tim Maia and Antonio Motta, from an early age listened ...
,
Sons of Kemet,
Soweto Kinch
Soweto Kinch (born 10 January 1978) is a British jazz alto saxophonist and rapper.
Biography
Born in 1978 in London, England, to a Barbadian father, playwright Don Kinch, and British-Jamaican actress Yvette Harris, Soweto Kinch began playin ...
,
Floating Points
Sam Shepherd, known professionally as Floating Points, is a British electronic music producer, DJ, and musician. He is the founder of Pluto Records, co-founder of Eglo Records and leader of a 16-piece group called Floating Points Ensemble.
Bi ...
,
Four Tet
Kieran Hebden (born September 1977), known as Four Tet, is an English electronic musician. He came to prominence as a member of the post-rock band Fridge before establishing himself as a solo artist with charting UK albums such as '' Rounds'' ...
and
Theon Cross.
Early life
Boyd was born and raised in the district of
Catford
Catford is a district in south east London, England, and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Lewisham. It is southwest of Lewisham itself, mostly in the Rushey Green and Catford South wards. The population of Catford, includ ...
in
south London. He describes himself as a "second-generation
West Indian
A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). For more than 100 years the words ''West Indian'' specifically described natives of the West Indies, but by 1661 Europeans had begun to use it ...
" with
Dominican descent from his father and
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
n descent from his mother. He attended
Sedgehill School, which was where he began learning drums.
Boyd claims that at one point he was taught drums by
Bobby Worth
Bobby Worth (September 25, 1912 in Cleveland, Ohio – July 17, 2002 in Mission Hills, California) was an American songwriter. His best known songs are "Do I Worry?", "'Til Reveille", "Tonight We Love", and "Don't You Know?".
Worth was consi ...
. In 2016, he graduated from
Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance
Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music and dance conservatoire based in London, England. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. The conservatoire has ...
with a
Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Music (BM or BMus) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree, and the majority of work consists of pre ...
in
jazz drums. While at Trinity Laban, he took part of the jazz education programme
Tomorrow's Warriors.
Other ventures
In addition to music, Boyd was a
resident host throughout 2019 on
BBC Radio 1Xtra.
He also performed a few stints filling in for
Gilles Peterson
Gilles Jérôme Moehrle MBE (; born 28 September 1964), better known as Gilles Peterson (), is a French broadcaster, DJ, and record label owner. He founded the influential labels Acid Jazz and Talkin' Loud, and started his current label Brow ...
on
BBC Radio 6 Music
BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available onl ...
in mid 2020.
Artistry and reception
Musical style
Boyd is popularly known for blending multiple genres into jazz to create various new sub-genres.
He has been noted to perform and write in the styles of
nu-jazz, and
fusion
Fusion, or synthesis, is the process of combining two or more distinct entities into a new whole.
Fusion may also refer to:
Science and technology Physics
*Nuclear fusion, multiple atomic nuclei combining to form one or more different atomic nucl ...
,
additionally incorporating elements of
grime
Grime may refer to:
* Dirt, in the form of black, ingrained dust
* Grime (music genre), a genre of music
* ''Grime'' (album), a 2001 album by Iniquity
* ''Grime'' (video game), a 2021 Metroidvania video game
* "Grime", a 2022 song by Dallas Woo ...
,
electronica,
highlife
Highlife is a music genre that started in present-day Ghana in the 19th century, during its history as a colony of the British Empire and through its trade routes in coastal areas. It describes multiple local fusions of African metre and wester ...
and
broken beat
Broken beat (sometimes referred to as "bruk") is an electronic dance music genre characterized by syncopated beats and tense rhythms, including staggered or punctuated snare beats and/or hand claps. It has been heavily influenced by styles such a ...
. Boyd has described his own music as "an extension of black music, the diaspora" that draws influence from
afrobeats,
soca,
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
,
drum and bass and
jungle music
Jungle is a genre of dance music that developed out of the UK rave scene and sound system culture in the 1990s. Emerging from breakbeat hardcore, the style is characterised by rapid breakbeats, heavily syncopated percussive loops, samples, and ...
.
Critical reception
Boyd is known as a prominent figure within the modern London jazz scene.
He has been described by ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' as "a
progenitor of the current London jazz scene", and "a poster boy of the London jazz revival."
Influences
Boyd has cited
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...
's ''
Kind of Blue'' and
Dizzee Rascal
Dylan Kwabena Mills (born 18 September 1984), better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a British MC and rapper. A pioneer of grime music, his work has also incorporated elements of UK garage, bassline, British hip hop, and R&B.
D ...
's ''
Boy in Da Corner
''Boy in da Corner'' is the debut studio album by English rapper and producer Dizzee Rascal. It was first released on 21 July 2003 by XL Recordings in the United Kingdom before being released the following year in the United States.
A widesprea ...
'' as major influences.
Boyd is closely associated with jazz personality and DJ
Gilles Peterson
Gilles Jérôme Moehrle MBE (; born 28 September 1964), better known as Gilles Peterson (), is a French broadcaster, DJ, and record label owner. He founded the influential labels Acid Jazz and Talkin' Loud, and started his current label Brow ...
, whom he cites as an influence in learning how to "use jazz in
club culture
Clubbing (also known as club culture, related to raving) is the activity of visiting and gathering socially at nightclubs (discotheques, discos or just clubs) and festivals. That includes socializing, listening to music, dancing, drinking alcohol ...
".
Discography
Studio albums
Collaborative albums
Extended plays
*''Absolute Zero'' (2017)
Mixtapes
* ''Footsteps Of Our Fathers'' (2015)
*''Time and Space'' (2016)
Singles
As lead artist
As featured artist
Guest appearances
Songwriting, production and performance credits
Adapted from
Discogs
Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...
,
Tidal
Tidal is the adjectival form of tide.
Tidal may also refer to:
* ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple
* Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim
* TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music
* Tidal (servic ...
, and
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
.
Awards and nominations
Notes
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyd, Moses
Living people
1991 births
21st-century English composers
21st-century drummers
English jazz composers
English jazz drummers
British male jazz musicians
Alumni of Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance
Black British musicians
BBC Radio 1Xtra presenters
English people of Dominica descent
English people of Jamaican descent
21st-century British male musicians
21st-century jazz composers
Nu jazz musicians