With the British urban jazz band Ezra Collective, not moving is not an option

It was a remarkable wave of British jazz innovation five years ago. Young musicians from London made their breakthrough with urban jazz. Carried by the makers’ multicultural backgrounds, jazz mixed with street rhythms, from afrobeat, dark grime, broken beats to fresh-sweet latin.

They stood out, names like Sons of Kemet, saxophonist Nubya Garcia or drummer Moses Boyd, and remained interesting in album releases and many collaborations. But especially live on stage. And, strikingly, especially in the pop circuit. For example, the five-member Ezra Collective has not only been announced for North Sea Jazz, but also for the upcoming Lowlands. How logical that is, became apparent on Wednesday evening in a sold-out Paradiso, Amsterdam.

In the final show of the European tour, Ezra Collective – North London, Nigerian roots, all just approaching thirty – was a blissful purveyor of musical joy. The album Where I’m Meant To Be already showed this at the end of last year: Ezra’s afro-fusion jazz, brimming with influences, is of the most dynamic kind. At this cheerful final concert – don’t move? no option! – the exuberant drummer and captain Femi Koleoso was mainly about creating a carefree bubble.

Also read the review of the album Where I’m Meant To Be by Ezra Collective

Gut battle

Via latin to hip-hop or rather in languid dub, the band played with rhythmic motifs and flows: from fast melodic and sing-along themes on repetition to peace and space for some depth or more spontaneous ideas. Nice how drummer Koleoso and his bass-playing brother TJ kept looking each other in the eye in a gut battle: won the bass or the beat. And keyboardist Joe Armon-Jones also did not leave himself unaffected as a connector with always a lot of funk in his playing.

The similarities with Snarky Puppy, the great American jazz fusion band that managed to turn around the moderate interest of a young audience for instrumental music like no other, are undeniable. As a crowd pleaser from small to large venues, the familiar, community-creating approach. Drummer Koleoso often came out from behind his drum kit for encouraging dances and small talk.

And also how in a broadly appealing form time and time again worked towards delightful highlights – the audience really melted. Although there were drawbacks. Ezra’s jazz got messy. When the focus is so much on parties, with blazers appearing on the balcony, or jams between screaming admirers with filming phone calls, the outcome is some watery jazz.

With ‘You Can’t Steal My Joy’, actually intended as a protest against the Brexit that makes touring very difficult for British bands, the band triumphantly silenced every doubter again. A salsa rave was waiting: steamy and, yes, infectious.

View an overview of our reviews about jazz