Ben Slater grew up in San Francisco and returned to the city after some time on the East Coast and New Orleans. He has been the musical director of Mean to Me Jazz Band since 2013. The band has performed regularly at venues like Red Poppy Art House, Bird & Beckett Books & Records, Blush! Wine Bar, Mr Tipple's Recording Studio, Club 1923, and Revolution Cafe.

Ben composes original music, arranges jazz standards, and performs on both piano and tenor saxophone. His formative influences on piano were Ahmad Jamal, Erroll Garner, and Thelonious Monk—each of their lively, rhythm-centered approaches to the instrument. On sax, he has absorbed the lyricism of Lester Young and the heavy swing of Sonny Rollins.