London, England · jazz · afrobeat

Ezra Collective

2 festivals played ↓

London jazz as a party rather than a seminar — Afrobeat and dancehall pulling the horns along, and a drummer who conducts the room from behind the kit.

The band's members met through Tomorrow's Warriors, the London jazz education programme run by Gary Crosby and Janine Irons, and formed in 2012 around brothers Femi and TJ Koleoso. Their name references the biblical figure Ezra, who studied the work of those who came before him, a model the group applied to jazz.

The full lineup settled as Femi Koleoso on drums, TJ Koleoso on bass, Joe Armon-Jones on keyboards, James Mollison on saxophone and Ife Ogunjobi on trumpet, who replaced founding member Dylan Jones. Femi Koleoso has cited Robert Glasper and Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly as early templates for the band's sound.

Their 2019 single 'Quest for Coin' was picked as Annie Mac's Hottest Record on BBC Radio 1, and the debut album You Can't Steal My Joy followed the same year with guest spots from Jorja Smith and Loyle Carner. The 2022 album Where I'm Meant to Be brought in more collaborators and won the Mercury Prize in 2023.

Recognition kept building afterward: Barack Obama named their 2024 single 'God Gave Me Feet for Dancing' among his favourite songs of the year, and in 2025 the band became the first jazz act to win Group of the Year at the Brit Awards.

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jazzafrobeat