Ezra Collective are a British

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

quintet composed of drummer and bandleader Femi Koleoso, bassist TJ Koleoso, keyboardist

Joe Armon-Jones Joseph Armon-Jones (born February 1993) is a British musician, keyboardist, composer, producer and bandleader. His debut album, ''Starting Today'', was released in May 2018 and his second album, ''Turn To Clear View'', was released in September ...

, trumpeter Ife Ogunjobi, and tenor saxophonist James Mollison, who met at the jazz youth programme

Tomorrow's Warriors Tomorrow's Warriors (TW) is a jazz music education and artist development organisation that was co-founded in 1991 by Janine Irons and Gary Crosby, committed to championing diversity, inclusion and equality across the arts through jazz, with ...

and formed their group soon afterwards. The group fuses elements of

afrobeat Afrobeat (also known as Afrofunk) is a West African music genre, fusing influences from Nigerian (such as Yoruba) and Ghanaian (such as highlife) music, with American funk, jazz, and soul influences. With a focus on chanted vocals, complex i ...

, calypso,

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

and

, and frequently collaborates with fellow

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

-based jazz musicians such as

Nubya Garcia Nubya Nyasha Garcia (born 1991) is a British jazz musician, Saxophone, saxophonist, composer and bandleader. Early life and education Garcia was born in 1991 in Camden Town, London, the youngest of four siblings, to a Guyanese people, Guyanese ...

and

Moses Boyd Moses Boyd (born 30 April 1991) is a British jazz drummer, composer, record producer, bandleader and radio host. His debut solo studio album ''Dark Matter'' (2020) was nominated for the 2020 Mercury Prize. In 2014, Boyd and saxophonist Binke ...

. They were the recipients of the 2023

Mercury Music Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual Music award, music prize awarded for the best album released by a musical act from the Music of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom or Music of Ireland, Ireland. It was cre ...

. Their 2024 single "God Gave Me Feet for Dancing" was chosen by

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

for his list of 25 favourite songs of the year. At the

Brit Awards 2025 The Brit Awards 2025 was the 45th edition of the Brit Awards ceremony presented by British Phonographic Industry (BPI) to recognize the best in British and international music of 2024. The ceremony took place on Saturday 1 March 2025 at The O2 Ar ...

, the Ezra Collective became the first jazz band to win the "

Group of the Year The Juno Award for Group of the Year has been awarded annually since 1970 in recognition of the best musical group or band in Canada. It is presented by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS). The five nominees in the category a ...

" accolade.

Background

The London-based quintet formed in 2012 by brothers Femi Koleoso (drums) and TJ Koleoso (electric bass), together with James Mollison (sax), Joe Armon-Jones (keyboards) and Dylan Jones (trumpet). Jones has since been replaced by Ife Ogunjobi. The members of Ezra Collective met at the jazz programme

, run by Gary Crosby and Janine Irons. The jazz group has claimed that they faced challenges in succeeding as young jazz musicians in London, with Femi Koleoso saying: "I saw jazz music as an elite art form that I didn't have access to." He puts down the group's success as being able to freely express their musical influences from their youth. The band has said that

Robert Glasper Robert Andre Glasper (born April 5, 1978) is an American pianist, record producer, songwriter, and Arrangement, musical arranger. His music embodies numerous musical genres, primarily centered around jazz. Glasper has won five Grammy Awards from ...

, and

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first music ...

's ''

To Pimp a Butterfly ''To Pimp a Butterfly'' is the third studio album by the American rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was released on March 15, 2015, by Top Dawg Entertainment, Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. The album was recorded in studios throughout ...

'' provided early inspiration for their "template" as a jazz band.

Career

The band's 2019 instrumental single "Quest for Coin" was premiered as the "Hottest Record in The World" on ''

Annie Mac Annie Macmanus (born 18 July 1978), known professionally as Annie Mac, is an Irish DJ, broadcaster and writer. She hosted a variety of shows on BBC Radio 1, including BBC Switch and ''Future Sounds''. She also DJed in various locations, includ ...

'' on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

. In 2019, Ezra Collective released their debut LP ''You Can't Steal My Joy'', which featured British musicians

Jorja Smith Jorja Alice Smith (born 11 June 1997) is an English singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Walsall, West Midlands, she has been writing songs since the age of 11. In 2012, Smith's friend uploaded her cover of Labrinth's "Earthquake" to YouT ...

and

Loyle Carner Benjamin Gerard Coyle-Larner (born 6 October 1994), known professionally as Loyle Carner, is an English hip hop musician. After supporting various rappers during their tours, he released his debut album, '' Yesterday's Gone'', in 2017, which g ...

. In 2022, the band released its second LP, '' Where I'm Meant to Be'', involving a mix of both instrumental tracks and lyrical collaborations. Critical reception was widely positive, with Kate Hutchinson from ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' writing that the "exceptional album could be the one to cross over to the big league". On 3 March 2023, it was announced that Ezra Collective would be performing at the 2023 Glastonbury Festival. On 7 September 2023, the band won the 2023

Mercury Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual Music award, music prize awarded for the best album released by a musical act from the Music of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom or Music of Ireland, Ireland. It was cre ...

for their album ''Where I'm Meant To Be'', making them the first jazz act to win the award in its 31-year history. Following the announcement, Femi Koleoso highlighted the band's youthful origins, saying: "This moment we're celebrating right here is testimony to good, special people putting time and effort into elpingyoung people to play music.… let's continue to support that."

Alexis Petridis Alexis Petridis (born 13 September 1971) is an English journalist. He is the head Rock music, rock and pop music critic for ''The Guardian'', and a regular contributor for ''GQ''. In addition to his music journalism for the paper, he has written ...

lauded the winning album by saying that ''Where I'm Meant To Be'' "stirs together Afro-Cuban rhythms and post-bop with rap – both

Sampa the Great Sampa Tembo (born August 9, 1993), known professionally as Sampa the Great, is a Zambian singer, rapper, and songwriter. Between 2014 and 2020, she was based in Australia. Note: this source was an agency for the artist. Her debut solo album, ' ...

and 2022 Mercury nominee

Kojey Radical Kwadwo Adu Genfi Amponsah (born 4 January 1993), known professionally as Kojey Radical, is a British musician, creative director and mixed media visual artist. His style has been described as a mix of grime hip hop, alternative rap, and spoken ...

are among the guests – dub, funk and dance music and transforms

Sun Ra Le Sony'r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993), better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific ou ...

's Love In Outer Space into slick jazz-inflected soul with a vocal by the singer Nao, another former Mercury nominee. It's an album where the influence of spiritual jazz coexists with Afrobeat; it successfully captures the band's live energy, its kinetic power never dipping despite its 70-minute running time. It's approachable and celebratory without in any way seeming lightweight or drifting too far from the band's roots: an album that people who don't normally consider themselves jazz fans might fall for, but still resolutely a jazz album." Ezra Collective's 2024 single "God Gave Me Feet for Dancing" was selected by

for his list of 25 favourite tracks of 2024. In January 2025, Ezra Collective were announced as the runners-up in the BBC's Sound of 2025 poll.

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

* ''Chapter 7'' (2016) * ''Juan Pablo: The Philosopher'' (2018)

Singles

* "Samuel L Riddim" (2018) * "Reason in Disguise" (2018) * "Chris and Jane" (2019) * "Footprints" (2020) * "Dark Side Riddim" (2020) * "Quest for Coin II" (2020) * "More Than a Hustler" (2021) * "May the Funk Be with You" (2022) * "Lady" (2023) * "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" (2023) * "Ajala" (2024) * "God Gave Me Feet for Dancing" (feat. Yazmin Lacey) (2024) * "No-One's Watching Me" (feat.

Olivia Dean Olivia Lauryn Dean (born 14 March 1999) is an English neo soul singer. She has released one studio album: '' Messy'' (2023) and five EPs. In 2021, Dean was named the breakthrough artist of the year by Amazon Music and, in 2023, Dean was selected ...

) (2024) * "Streets Is Calling" (feat.

M.anifest Kwame Ametepee Tsikata (born 20 November 1982), known professionally as M.anifest, is a Ghanaian musician, rapper and record producer. He won Best Rapper and Hip-Hop song of the year at the 2017 Ghana Music Awards. He has worked with Damon Alba ...

Moonchild Sanelly Sanelisiwe Twisha (born 1987), known professionally as Moonchild Sanelly is a South African musician and dancer. She is known for her signature blue-coloured hair and her self-created music genre called "Future ghetto funk". Originally from Po ...

) (2024) * "Body Language" (feat.

Sasha Keable Sasha Keable (born 27 February 1994) is a British singer and songwriter. In 2013, she collaborated with Disclosure on the single "Voices" and toured with the duo around the UK. In 2014, she supported singer Katy B on her UK tour. She has released ...

) (2025)

Awards and nominations

References

{{Brit British Group 2016 establishments in the United Kingdom Afrobeat musical groups English funk musical groups English hip-hop groups English jazz ensembles English musical quintets Musical groups established in 2016 Musical groups from London Partisan Records artists Tomorrow's Warriors alumni