2023 was a banner year for Ezra Collective, making them the first-ever jazz artist to land the coveted Mercury Music Prize, for their album Where I’m Meant To Be, AND they brought down the house when they made their debut on MBE. The prolific group isn’t wasting time and are set to release their third album Dance, No One’s Watching in late September.
Written while on tour in 2023, the album is an ode to the dance floors they experienced and ties in with some of the members’ roots in church. Drummer and bandleader Femi Koleoso notes, “Myself, 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.”
