Ezra Collective is transforming the UK jazz scene with infectious rhythms and a powerful message of inclusivity. Their award-winning fusion of jazz and Afrobeat is making history—and making people dance.
Named Group of the Year at the 2025 Brit Awards, London-based quintet Ezra Collective has ignited a fresh wave of enthusiasm for jazz. Fusing it with Afrobeat and raw, contagious energy, the band proudly repeats its mantra: this music is for everyone.
Set to play Glastonbury Festival at the end of the month, the band made history in under two years by becoming the first British jazz act to win the prestigious Mercury Prize and land a Top 10 UK album with Dance, No One’s Watching (2024).
“I couldn’t afford to go to most jazz clubs as a kid, let alone buy a drink once inside,” recalls drummer Femi Koleoso during an interview in his North London studio, the neighborhood where he grew up.
“Jazz always felt like some kind of high art... That’s exactly why we wanted to show people that it belongs to everyone, to break down that elitist image,” says the 30-year-old Anglo-Nigerian musician.
Ezra Collective, named after a biblical prophet, came together over a decade ago when Femi and his younger brother TJ Koleoso (the bassist) began playing in jazz clubs for teens. There, they met keyboardist Joe Armon-Jones and saxophonist James Mollison.
“We learned jazz, sure—but it was Afrobeat that made us fall in love with music. It’s the fusion that shaped our sound,” Femi explains.
As the band evolved through tours and collaborations, now joined by trumpeter Ife Ogunjobi, their sound began weaving in elements from hip-hop, dub, reggae, salsa, and Ghanaian highlife—while keeping jazz at the core.
Their vibrant, genre-blending approach has attracted a fanbase far beyond traditional jazz circles, powered by their explosive live shows. On stage, Femi Koleoso—part preacher, part bandleader—turns every venue into a “temple of joy.”
“Best Place in the World”
Now considered a key force in the UK's flourishing jazz scene, Ezra Collective stunned critics by winning the Mercury Prize in 2023 for their second album Where I’m Meant to Be.
This landmark victory helped confirm what many were already sensing: British jazz is in the middle of a golden age. “If this moment exists, it’s thanks to the incredible youth clubs, teachers, and schools,” Femi Koleoso said in an emotional speech at the Brit Awards, where the group triumphed over Coldplay and The Cure.
Most of the band’s members—diverse in background and influences—cut their teeth in youth jazz clubs, which bassist TJ Koleoso calls “the best place on Earth to be born” if you're a young artist. Programs like Tomorrow’s Warriors, launched in 1991 to promote diversity in jazz, have nurtured talents such as Nubya Garcia, Kokoroko, and Ezra Collective through free jam sessions and workshops.
Fervent Christians, fans of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti, and loyal supporters of Arsenal FC, the Koleoso brothers remain deeply rooted in their multicultural hometown of Enfield. “We grew up next to a Bangladeshi family, my best friend was Turkish, we were surrounded by Jamaicans,” Femi says.
“London has been an endless source of inspiration. That melting pot, that diversity... it’s in everything I write and create,” adds Femi, who also toured as drummer for Gorillaz.
On stage, the five members—who call each other brothers—connect through improvisation. “We always play the first part of a song tightly, but then everyone breaks loose and follows their own path,” Femi smiles.
That kind of spontaneous, collective creativity, says TJ Koleoso, is something no artificial intelligence could replicate. “Real, authentic things—those are the ones that last.”
By Clara LALANNE / AFP
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