Ezra Collective began as a group of teenagers who played together at Tomorrow’s Warriors, a youth band initiative at the South Bank Centre in London. With Femi as the band leader and drummer, Joe Armon-Jones on keyboards, James Mollison on saxophone, Ife Ogunjobi on trumpet, and Femi’s younger brother TJ on bass guitar, they formed a promising ensemble that explored the boundaries between jazz, grime, afrobeat, and more.
Their debut EP ‘Chapter 7’ was released in 2016, followed by ‘Juan Pablo: The Philosopher’ in 2017. The highly anticipated debut album ‘You Can’t Steal My Joy’ in 2019 received much acclaim and earned a Mercury Prize nomination. In 2023, their second album ‘Where I’m Meant To Be’ won this prestigious award, making history as the first jazz band ever to receive this honor.