Ezra Collective

When: 8th March 2027
Location: O2 Academy

Ezra Collective are a swirl of irrepressible jazz jams channelling London’s musical melting pot. Coming to Glasgow’s O2 Academy on 8th March 2027.

Having established themselves as the scene’s quintessential crossover ambassadors, the euphoric Ezra Collective spearhead a young generation of musicians celebrating inclusiveness, collaboration – and jazz music’s right to party.

“Growing up as young people in London has challenges but, rather than focus on all the negativity surrounding us, we’ve decided to focus on the positives”, said Ezra Collective drummer and bandleader Femi Koleoso about the quintet’s 2019 debut LP, You Can’t Steal My Joy. Their subsequent EPs, Chapter 7 and Juan Pablo: The Philosopher, buoyantly expanded on Ezra Collective’s eclectic references, from jazz Afrofuturist Sun Ra to hip hop via dub and the musical microcosm that is the British capital, where grime and Afro Cuban moods converge. Vocals, where they were present, were provided by some of the UK music’s most fiery talents, namely Jorja Smith and Loyle Carner.

In addition to Femi, instrumentalists TJ Koleoso (his brother, on bass), James Mollison (tenor sax), Joe Armon-Jones (keys) and Dylan Jones (trumpet, later replaced by Ife Ogunjobi) got together after meeting at the jazz training and development programme Tomorrow’s Warriors, deep diving into a genre they had, until then, barely thought accessible. From there, they took jazz and ran with it. The collective exuded ecstatic energy on record, but even more so on stage: their sweat-soaked live shows were communal rituals that pulled together discerning jazz enthusiasts and young recruits drawn to their elastic club grooves and vital, informal energy.

The band kicked off 2022 with the cosmic, fluid grooves of ‘May the Funk Be With You’ and ‘Victory Dance’, an exhilarating whirlwind of jazz and salsa, possessed keys and boisterous horns designed to combust when in contact with live audiences. The track proved to presage greater things to come: turning years of passionate style-hopping and improvisational repartees to a “thumping celebration of life”, as the collective put it, their second album Where I’m Meant To Be was produced with pride and “a deep sense of gratefulness for all that is good”. Sprinkled with the soulful guest vocals of Emeli Sandé and the uncompromising raps of Kojey Radical, amapiano influences and lessons learned from Afrobeat greats such as Fela Kuti and drummer Tony Allen (Koleoso’s mentor), the five-piece erupted with determination to do jazz their way.

In 2023, Ezra Collective’s sophomore record helped them become the first jazz outfit to win the prestigious Mercury Prize since its creation in 1992, theirs was also a victory for the genre and its rightful place – along with its young, diverse army of UK talent – at the forefront of the contemporary music scene. Femi Koleoso also emphasised the importance of youth clubs in nurturing budding artists in the band’s acceptance speech, painting the bigger picture on a night that could have revelled in gloss.

2026 saw the vivacious group return with fourth studio album Here Because Of Hope, with a handful of shows announced in 2027 including two nights at London’s O2 Brixton Academy.