Ezra Collective are still building, and drummer Femi Koleoso is still just 31. That fact floored me. I've been locked into this crew for a decade now, since the 2016 debut EP Chapter 7, and I watched Koleoso stack sessions everywhere: Nubya Garcia's Nubya's 5ive and Camilla George's Isang, both from 2017, both with Daniel Casimir holding down bass.
In Ezra Collective, though, the low end belongs to Femi's brother TJ. The lineup rounds out with keyboardist Joe Armon-Jones, trumpeter Ife Ogunjobi, who stepped in for Dylan Jones on 2022's Where I'm Meant To Be, and saxophonist James Mollison. That record was a stunner. It carried the same hopeful pulse that runs through everything they touch.
Here's the wild part: this band feels like veterans, but they're young. The catalog is deep, the energy is relentless, and the momentum keeps climbing. Koleoso plays like a lifer already. Ten years in and Ezra Collective are only getting started. Keep watching this space.