Ezra Collective

Emerging from the London scene and the Tomorrow’s Warriors programme, Ezra Collective brings together drummer Femi Koleoso, bassist TJ Koleoso, keyboardist Joe Armon-Jones, trumpeter Ife Ogunjobi and saxophonist James Mollison in a quintet that fuses contemporary jazz with afrobeat, hip‑hop, soul, dub, reggae and Caribbean touches. They first drew attention with the EPs Chapter 7 (2016) and Juan Pablo: The Philosopher (2018), then expanded their audience with You Can’t Steal My Joy (2019), a debut album featuring guests such as Jorja Smith and Loyle Carner. Ezra Collective’s music rests on highly mobile collective interplay, grooves derived equally from jazz, African musics and British rap, and writing that alternates between instrumental pieces and formats more open to vocals. With Where I’m Meant to Be (2022) they further asserted this intersection of post‑bop, funk, afrobeat and spoken word, and continued the momentum with Dance, No One’s Watching (2024). Closely associated with other figures in the British jazz revival like Nubya Garcia and Moses Boyd, Ezra Collective’s trajectory was also marked by winning the 2023 Mercury Prize for Where I’m Meant to Be.