Ezra Collective Announce New Album, Slam Government Dependence
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- Ezra Collective announced their fourth album "Here Because of Hope" for September release, with Koleoso saying it was "born from trying to bring joy while suffering" after "moments of devastating pain felt across the band in recent years, from things happening in the world to losing a child at a youth club"
- Femi Koleoso credited late Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen as his mentor, recounting how he took overnight Megabus journeys from London to Paris for weekly lessons after Allen told him to "take things away in my playing rather than adding them" — recordings Koleoso said he still listens to
- Koleoso rejected reliance on government arts funding, saying "where we go wrong is the dependence on local authorities, governments and institutions, when we can take it upon ourselves to be that change, rather than wait for it to happen" and urging those with instruments to teach others
- The Haggerston pub in east London served as a pivotal early venue, hosting a jazz jam and a disco night simultaneously and connecting Koleoso to Tony Allen, who later called him from Paris and invited him to weekly lessons
- James Mollison described Ezra Collective's Fuji Rock festival set in Tokyo as the only time "we've ever felt we might have to take down the energy to calm the crowd," saying their performance "unleashed chaos" and triggered crowd surfing
Why it matters: Ezra Collective's September release "Here Because of Hope" marks a tonal shift from joy to acknowledging "devastating pain," including losing a child at a youth club, while Koleoso explicitly rejected dependence on "local authorities, governments and institutions" for arts funding. For British jazz's most prominent young act, the album pairs personal grief with a community-action pitch as UK arts budgets face cuts.
