British jazz stars Ezra Collective: ‘We destroy any impostor syndrome with our first tune’
After becoming the first jazz act to win the Mercury, the quintet hit Abbey Road Studios to channel their live-band energy into a joyful new album. Here they talk about the youth clubs where it all started – and their unwavering mission to help the next generation of musicians
How odd to meet the UK’s most exhilarating live act around a wipe-clean table in an anonymous boardroom, as though we’re about to discuss some new accountancy software. The door shuts with an air-tight sigh. We shuffle into our chairs.
The Ezra Collective vibe is usually effervescent, upbeat, in the moment. You could see it when they won the Mercury prize in 2023, the first jazz act to ever do so, utterly shocked and overjoyed to win. Then, they were a happiness pile-up, a bundle of hugs that actually ended up on the floor. Today, to my right is band leader and drummer Femi Koleoso, a serious man whose grin is like sudden sunshine. Then, going around the table, we have keyboard-player Joe Armon-Jones (strawberry-blond mop), trumpeter Ife Ogunjobi (quiet, locs framing his face), bassist TJ Koleoso (Femi’s younger, more relaxed brother) and saxophonist James Mollison, who says little beneath his long curls, but smiles a lot. Talking in an office environment is not what they’re about, though it turns out they’re good at it.
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