EZRA COLLECTIVE Vinilo y CD

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


Much celebrated new school jazz crew Ezra Collective finally unveil their highly anticipated new album Where I'm Meant To Be after a big summer single 'Victory Dance' got us all excited. This record is a life-affirming romp with their famous hybrid sound tasing in all manner of different styles, eras and scenes. Some high-profile features from Sampa The Great, Kojey Radical, Emile Sande and Nao bring extra goodness to this record which is certainly a product of the current London scene but also owes a debt to the sounds of southern Africa. It all adds up to a real doozy.

Review: Dance, No One's Watching is a vibrant tribute to the joyous act of dancing and a night out from the anticipation of evening to the early morning hours. Written during Ezra Collective's whirlwind 2023 world tour, which saw them become the first jazz act to win the Mercury Prize, the album reflects the global dancefloors they experienced, from London to Chicago, Lagos to Sydney. Dance and rhythm unite us all, a spirit celebrated in these tracks. Recorded at Abbey Road studios, the sessions transformed into a live celebration with friends and family, adding a communal warmth to the music. The album features collaborations with Olivia Dean, M.anifest, Moonchild Sanelly, and Yazmin Lacey, who sings on the lead single 'God Gave Me Feet for Dancing.' This new album follows their acclaimed Where I'm Meant to Be, and continues to showcase Ezra Collective's innovative contributions to contemporary British music.

Review: Dance, No One's Watching is a joyous celebration of the unifying power of dance. Written during Ezra Collective's world tour in 2023, which also saw them become the first jazz act to win the Mercury Prize, this album is full of vibrant energy, a complete sonic journey through a night out in the city, this album succeeds from the opening anticipation to the dawn's quiet conclusion. Recorded at Abbey Road Studios amidst a live communal celebration, Dance, No One's Watching resonates with love, music, and the infectious spirit of dancing. The band's dynamic compositions and rhythmic power are showcased in every track, making it a powerful addition to contemporary British music. The Deluxe 2 LP set on black vinyl, housed in a gatefold jacket with exclusive artwork and a fold-out poster, makes this limited edition the copy to have. Ezra Collective's are innovative with a unifying musical vision.

Review: The Mercury Prize-winning British jazz group returns this September with the greatly anticipated follow-up to the award-winning 'Where I'm Meant to Be'. The first jazz group ever to win the prestigious accolade, their unique blend of jazz, calypso, afrobeat and roots has carried over into the two singles 'God Gave Me Feet For Dancing' and 'Ajala'.The former features up-and-coming star Yazmin Lacey, whose sudden scouting has made her a necessary one to watch in the British soul scene. Interpolating Nina Simones's 1965 classic 'Feeling Good', the track proposes the group's manifesto of dancing not just as an activity confined to the club, but as a God-given ability - an act of spirituality and community. 'Ajala', by contrast, is a fast-paced afrobeat-cum-bebop jam named after the Yoruba slang for being unable to sit still. Lucky fans were able to hear the recording live at the 'Beyond the Bassline' exhibition at the British Library - with some of the live adlibs and crowd work being included in the single version currently on streaming. Pressed on an indie-exclusive deep red stain disc.

Review: One year on from making history as the first ever jazz band to be awarded the Mercury Prize, Ezra Collective are continuing to pump out their sensational, unique blend of jazz, roots, afrobeat and calypso. 'Dance No One's Watching' is the highly anticipated follow-up to the aforementioned award-winning 'Where I'm Meant to Be'. Set to release in September, the two singles 'God Gave Me Feet For Dancing' and 'Ajala' set the bar high. The prior is a jazzy, drum-led groove backing the buttery smooth Yazmin Lacey, a name to watch in the soul scene (famously she was scouted after being persuaded to sing on a drunken night out.) The track is a sunny interpolation of Cy Grant's 'Feeling Good' (though let's face it, Nina Simone truly made that record) with a quintessential British soul sound that brings to mind the stylings of Greentea Peng, early Jorja Smith work etc. To boil it down to 'easy listening' would feel reductive but, my God, it's easy on the ears for sure. Single number two, 'Ajala' is quite a stark contrast. Incorporating the hectic feeling of bebop classics, it's a blaring and fast-paced brass session with some great high-tempo percussive afrobeat. Taking its name from the Yoruba slang for fidgety, derived from the Nigerian journalist who one day decided to travel the world on a moped, the track does just that: it begs you to get up and move. If these two tracks are anything to go by, the world is set for a future award winner this Autumn.

Review: Much celebrated new school jazz crew Ezra Collective finally unveil their highly anticipated new album Where I'm Meant To Be after a big summer single 'Victory Dance' got us all excited. This record is a life-affirming romp with their famous hybrid sound tasing in all manner of different styles, eras and scenes. Some high-profile features from Sampa The Great, Kojey Radical, Emile Sande and Nao bring extra goodness to this record which is certainly a product of the current London scene but also owes a debt to the sounds of southern Africa. It all adds up to a real doozy.

Review: Ezra Collective has described their hotly anticipated second album, 'Where I'm Meant To Be', as "a thumping celebration of life". As with their previous work, it's rooted in the band's love of on-stage improvisation - call-and-response instrument solos abound throughout - and peppered with contributions from guest vocalists including Sampa The Great, Emeli Sande and Nao. Musically, it's undoubtedly joyous, blurring the boundaries between contemporary UK jazz, afrobeat, hip-hop, dub, Latin rhythms and soft-touch electronics. The plentiful highlights include steppers-powered dub-jazz workout 'Ego Killah', sparkling opener 'Life Goes On' and the Afro-Cuban brilliance of 'Victory Dance'.

Review: London's contemporary jazz scene is so strong right now that there's not a week that passes without the release of a killer new album from one of its leading protagonists. The latest comes from Ezra Collective, which finally delivers its' debut album following a string of inspired live performances and a handful of must-have singles. Kicking off with a breezy chunk of hip-hop-jazz, "You Can't Steal My Joy" sees the hyped five-piece confidently bounce between intense, spiraling epics ("Why You Mad?"), reggae-influenced aural sunshine ("Red Whine"), polyrhythmic Afro-jazz ("Quest For Coin"), bespoke soul (Jorja Smith hook-up "Reason In Disguise"), live boom-bap hip-hop (Loyle Carner collaboration "What Am I To Do"), bustling Afro-Cuban jazz ("Chris & Jane"), picturesque piano pieces ("Philosopher II") and much more besides. As debuts go, it's mighty impressive.