Ignored             Obscured              Restored

The British jazz band known as the Ezra Collective has been active since 2016, but I only learned about them recently, after they released their critically acclaimed third album – Dance, No One’s Watching – in September 2024.

Actually, I find categorizing them as a jazz band doesn’t describe them very well because I hear such a prominent Afrobeat flavor in their music.  They fuse elements of many genres into their musical stew, citing Kendrick Lamar and Robert Glasper as influences.

Take, for instance, “God Gave Me Feet for Dancing” which Barack Obama listed as one of his 25 favorite songs of 2024.

“God Gave Me Feet…” has a vocal assist from London-born singer-songwriter Yazmin Lacey.  Ezra Collective drummer and bandleader Femi Koleoso has described his inspiration for the song:

“Myself, (bandmates) Ife, and TJ all grew up in church, and it played a massive role in how we view the purpose of dancing.  Dancing is bigger than just the club space.  Dancing is a community thing, dancing is a spiritual thing, and ‘God Gave Me Feet for Dancing’ is like a window into that element of Ezra Collective for the five of us.  There’s a story in the bible that talks about ‘David dancing before the lord’, and that’s always been something that has inspired me.  So, ‘God Gave Me Feet for Dancing’ is meant to look at dancing in a more spiritual capacity, like it’s our God-given ability to shake away the badness of life and dance instead.”

The band won the Mercury Prize in 2023 for their previous album, Where I’m Meant to Be.  They were the first jazz band to win that prestigious award.

Enjoy… until next week.