Richard Spaven

London-based drummer and composer Richard Spaven has since the 2000s developed a language at the crossroads of jazz, broken beat, hip-hop and drum and bass, with a playing style built on groove precision, rhythmic offsets and a constant flow between acoustic pulsation and electronic sensitivity. Initially noticed as a sideman on the London scene, Spaven has accompanied artists from jazz, soul and urban music, including José James, Flying Lotus, Guru, Brainfeeder and Alfa Mist, while gradually asserting his own repertoire. Spaven has notably released Spaven’s 5ive in 2010, The Self in 2014 and Real Time in 2018, records that show writing centered on collective dynamics, repetitive motifs and textures inherited from club music. Spaven also works in a trio or small ensemble format, where the drums do not dominate but organize space, silences and changes in density. His career sits within a generation of British musicians who have brought jazz improvisation closer to the languages of the beat, with a sober, taut and highly legible approach to rhythm.