Ezra Collective on Stunning New LP ‘Here Because of Hope’ & Collaborating with Olivia Dean: ‘My Most Perfect A&R Moment!’

When listing recent success stories for British musicians, Ezra Collective deserve to be celebrated alongside Sam Fender , Olivia Dean , Lola Young and other hitamkers.

Their story encapsulates everything that the U.K. music industry should be championing: sheer determination, superb talent and a community-led mindset.

Related Ezra Collective: London Jazz Heroes on Their Mercury Prize Win and New Album ‘Dance, No One’s Watching’ Fontaines D.C. and Ezra Collective Among Winners at 2025 Independent Music Awards: Full List U.K.

Jazz Is Reaching New Heights, But the Scene Still Has a Major Gender Imbalance The jazz five-piece formed in a youth club, Tomorrow’s Warriors in Enfield, north London, before growing steadily into a must-see live act and cultural leader.

In 2023, they broke cover with Where I’m Meant to Be , the first jazz album to win the prestigious Mercury Prize , seeing off competition from Arctic Monkeys, RAYE, Olivia Dean and Fred again..

18 months later, they bagged a BRIT Award for group of the year at the 2025 ceremony; they have done so while remaining fiercely independent.

New album Here Because of Hope is Ezra Collective’s most complete album to date and is currently tracking to land the band, signed to Partisan Records, its first-ever U.K.

No.

1 album.

The fivepiece – Femi Koleoso (drums) TJ Koleoso (bass), Ife Ogunjobi (trumpet), James Mollison (sax) and Joe Armon-Jones (keyboards) – traverse an array of musical genres on the LP, ranging from funky house and U.K.

Garage-inspired tunes to traditional African and Caribbean genres such as zouk and highlife.

The band’s live shows, which are already formidable and utterly joyous, will soon take in some of the most impressive venues of its career at New York’s Webster Hall (Nov.

18), and a four-night stand at London’s historic Brixton Academy (March 18 – 21).

Bandleader Femi speaks to Billboard U.K. about Ezra Collective’s role as the U.K. jazz scene’s leading band, its new LP and collaborating with Olivia Dean ahead of her meteoric rise.