2 languages
Ezra Collective
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
Ezra Collective is a British jazz quintet from London. The group came together in 2012 around the brothers Femi Koleoso on drums and TJ Koleoso on bass guitar. They were joined by the keyboard player Joe Armon-Jones, the saxophonist James Mollison and a trumpeter, today Ife Ogunjobi. The members met at Tomorrow's Warriors, a London jazz programme for young people. The name refers to the prophet Ezra, who studied the works of his predecessors, as the band wanted to do with jazz.
Music and breakthrough
The debut album You Can't Steal My Joy appeared in 2019, with Jorja Smith and Loyle Carner among the guests. In 2022 came Where I'm Meant to Be, which won the Mercury Prize in 2023. Ezra Collective were thereby the first jazz act to receive that prize. In 2025 the group also won a Brit Award for best group. Dance, No One's Watching followed in 2024 and Here Because of Hope in 2026.
Influence
The music mixes jazz with Afrobeat, calypso, reggae, hip hop and soul. The result is danceable and energetic, and the band emphatically seeks the live effect. Ezra Collective belong to the new London jazz, a scene that brought jazz back to a young audience. Femi Koleoso himself used to see jazz as an elitist art form, and the group wants precisely to break that image.
Listening
Victory Dance · Ezra Collective, 2022
Quest for Coin · Ezra Collective, 2019- Welcome to My World · Ezra Collective, 2022
Discography
Studio albums
- 2019You Can’t Steal My Joy
- 2022Where I’m Meant to Be
- 2024Dance, No One’s Watching
- 2026Here Because of Hope
In School of Rock
The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.
- After Hours: Session 4NL Reader
Mentioned in other articles
- New London jazz Genre
The saxophonist Nubya Garcia, the tuba player Theon Cross, the drummer Moses Boyd and the band Ezra Collective formed the core of the scene.