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Ezra Collective - Wikipedia

02 Apr 20257 min read

Ezra Collective are a British jazz quintet composed of drummer and bandleader Femi Koleoso, bassist TJ Koleoso, keyboardist Joe Armon-Jones, trumpeter Ife Ogunjobi, and tenor saxophonist James Mollison, who met at the jazz youth programme Tomorrow’s Warriors and formed their group soon afterwards.1 The group fuses elements of afrobeat, calypso, reggae, hip-hop, soul and jazz, and frequently collaborates with fellow London -based jazz musicians such as Nubya Garcia and Moses Boyd.2 3 They were the recipients of the 2023 Mercury Music Prize. Their 2024 single “God Gave Me Feet for Dancing” was chosen by Barack Obama for his list of 25 favourite songs of the year.4 5 At the Brit Awards 2025, the Ezra Collective became the first jazz band to win the “Group of the Year” accolade.6

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 Jones has since been replaced by Ife Ogunjobi.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 Tomorrow’s Warriors, run by Gary Crosby.7 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.” 8 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, and Kendrick Lamar ‘s To Pimp a Butterfly provided early inspiration for their “template” as a jazz band.7

Career

The band’s 2019 instrumental single “Quest for Coin” was premiered as the “Hottest Record in The World” on Annie Mac on BBC Radio 1.7 In 2019, Ezra Collective released their debut LP You Can’t Steal My Joy, which featured British musicians Jorja Smith and Loyle Carner.9 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 writing that the “exceptional album could be the one to cross over to the big league”.10 11 12

On 3 March 2023, it was announced that Ezra Collective would be performing at the 2023 Glastonbury Festival.13

On 7 September 2023, the band won the 2023 Mercury Prize for their album Where I’m Meant To Be,14 15 making them the first jazz act to win the award in its 31-year history.16 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 [helping] young people to play music.
 let’s continue to support that.” 17 18

Alexis Petridis 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 and 2022 Mercury nominee Kojey Radical are among the guests – dub, funk and dance music and transforms Sun Ra ‘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.” 19

Ezra Collective’s 2024 single “God Gave Me Feet for Dancing” was selected by Barack Obama for his list of 25 favourite tracks of 2024.20

In January 2025, Ezra Collective were announced as the runners-up in the BBC’s Sound of 2025 poll.21

Discography

Studio albums

List of studio albums, with selected details and chart positions
TitleDetailsPeak chart positions
UK
22
You Can't Steal My Joy70
Where I'm Meant to Be
  • Released: 4 November 2022
  • Label: Partisan Records
  • Format: CD, digital download, vinyl
24
Dance, No One's Watching
  • Released: 27 September 2024
  • Label: Partisan Records
  • Format: CD, digital download, vinyl
7

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 ) (2024)
  • “Streets Is Calling” (feat. M.anifest & Moonchild Sanelly ) (2024)
  • “Body Language” (feat. Sasha Keable ) (2025)

Awards and nominations

OrganisationYearWorkCategoryResultRef.
MOBO Awards2022Ezra CollectiveBest Jazz ActWon23
Mercury Prize2023Where I’m Meant to BeAlbum of the YearWon14 24
MOBO Awards2024Ezra CollectiveBest Jazz ActWon25
BBC2025Ezra CollectiveSound of 2025Second21
Brit Awards2025Ezra CollectiveGroup Of The YearWon26

References

  1. Madden, Sidney (13 February 2019). “Ezra Collective Sets The ‘Quest For Coin’ To A Fast-Paced Jazz Soundtrack”. npr.org. NPR. Retrieved 26 November 2020.↩
  2. Kalia, Ammar (28 April 2019). “Ezra Collective: You Can’t Steal My Joy review – celebration of jazz’s diversity”. The Observer. Retrieved 26 November 2020.↩
  3. Hutchinson, Kate (19 October 2018). “A Sweaty Night Out in London’s New Jazz Scene”. The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 9 March 2023.↩
  4. Horowitz, Steven J. (20 December 2024). “Barack Obama Includes Kendrick Lamar, BeyoncĂ© and Billie Eilish Among Favorite Music of 2024”. Variety. Retrieved 21 December 2024.↩
  5. Mier, TomĂĄs (20 December 2024). “Barack Obama Had Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar, BeyoncĂ© on Repeat This Year”. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 21 December 2024.↩
  6. Savage, Mark (2 March 2025). “Brit Awards 2025: The real winners and losers | Best speech: Ezra Collective”. BBC News.↩
  7. Vinti, Mike (4 April 2019). “As everyone gets hooked on jazz, Ezra Collective are the group most locked into a groove”. Loud And Quiet. Retrieved 6 March 2023.↩ ↩ ↩
  8. Hutchinson, Kate (19 October 2018). “A Sweaty Night Out in London’s New Jazz Scene”. The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 7 March 2023.↩
  9. Segev, Tom (29 April 2019). “Review: Ezra Collective’s ‘You Can’t Steal My Joy’ Is A UK Jazz Delight”. Complex. Retrieved 7 March 2023.↩
  10. Hutchinson, Kate (6 November 2022). “Ezra Collective: Where I’m Meant to Be review – brilliant follow-up from the inventive party band”. The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 7 March 2023.↩
  11. Aitken, Abbie (3 November 2022). “Ezra Collective - Where I’m Meant to Be | Reviews”. Clash. Retrieved 7 March 2023.↩
  12. Jenkins, Dafydd (31 October 2022). “Ezra Collective - Where I’m Meant to Be - Review”. Loud And Quiet. Retrieved 7 March 2023.↩
  13. “Glastonbury Festival 2023: Full line-up, tickets and how to watch”. Radio Times. Retrieved 9 March 2023.↩
  14. Savage, Mark; Steven McIntosh (7 September 2023). “Mercury Music Prize: Ezra Collective become first jazz winners”. BBC News. Retrieved 7 September 2023.↩ ↩
  15. “Ezra Collective Win The Mercury Prize 2023!“. BBC Music. 7 September 2023.↩
  16. Nugent, Annabel; Roisin O’Connor (7 September 2023). “Mercury Prize: Ezra Collective become first jazz act to win in award’s 31-year history”. The Independent.↩
  17. Muir, Hugh (8 September 2023). “Take the vitality of diverse Britain, set it to music. That’s why Ezra Collective deserve their Mercury prize”. The Guardian.↩
  18. Murray, Robin (8 September 2023). “Ezra Collective’s Mercury Win Highlights The Need For Cultural Investment”. ClashMusic. Retrieved 9 September 2023.↩
  19. Petridis, Alexis (7 September 2023). “Ezra Collective’s Mercury win finally acknowledges a golden age for UK jazz”. The Guardian.↩
  20. Spencer-Elliott, Lydia (21 December 2024). “Barack Obama names his favourite films, music and books of 2024”. The Independent.↩
  21. “Indie band English Teacher kick off BBC’s Sound of 2025”. BBC. 6 January 2025. Retrieved 9 January 2025.↩ ↩
  22. “EZRA COLLECTIVE – Full Official Chart History”. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 September 2024.↩
  23. “MOBO Awards 2022 | MOBO Organisation”. www.mobo.com. Retrieved 6 March 2023.↩
  24. Snapes, Laura (27 July 2023). “Mercury Prize 2023: Arctic Monkeys tie Radiohead’s record for most nominations”. The Guardian. Retrieved 27 July 2023.↩
  25. Beaumont-Thomas, Ben; Vinter, Robyn (7 February 2024). “MOBO Awards 2024: Central Cee tops winners thanks to megahit”. The Guardian. Retrieved 7 February 2024.↩
  26. “Winners”. www.brits.co.uk. Retrieved 2 March 2025.↩

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