Ezra Collective’s win epitomises everything great about music

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History has been made at the Mercury Prize with a jazz album winning the accolade for the first time in the award’s 30-year history. But this fact fades into irrelevance when considering what the victory by Ezra Collective and their LP Where I’m Meant To Be truly represents. It’s a win for togetherness and comradeship at a time when technology has conspired to make us feel ever further apart.

In his acceptance speech on behalf of the quintet, drummer Femi Koleoso used the word “fam” – for family – over and over. He was referring in the first instance to Ezra Collective’s network of musical self-support. The musicians met as teens at a jazz programme by double bassist Gary Crosby at London’s Southbank Centre. As people and players, they’ve come of age together.

However, “fam” also references the kinship that runs through their songs. Their giddy soundscapes take jazz as a starting point only to mutate thrillingly into soul, reggae and afrobeat. They welcome collaborators with open arms, too. Where I’m Meant To Be has guest-turns from rappers Sampa the Great and Kojey Radical and they have studied with greats such as the late afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen.

As anyone who has caught Ezra Collective in the flesh will know, their music celebrates community. There is a genuine attempt to break down the barrier between audience and performers. Ezra Collective shows are a group hug where the crowd are as essential as the musicians. It’s hard to think of anywhere further away from the corporate, over-priced modern concert experience.

That belief in demolishing artificial boundaries goes beyond performance. They give talks at schools and have pioneered a ticketing system at shows where people working in health and education receive discounts. Beat that Coldplay and Taylor Swift. In an industry where it is too often ultimately just about the money, Ezra Collective have demonstrated there’s another way. That there’s an alternative to overpriced “VIP” packages or the digital purgatory of the Ticketmaster holding pen.

All that being said, there is still the significance of What I’m Meant To Be becoming the first jazz winner of the Mercury. In its early history, the prize generally leaned towards every scruffy critic’s favourite genre of indie rock. And while the Mercury has become far more open-minded and eclectic across the past decade, in particular, it’s still hard not to be cheered by what this year’s winners have achieved.

Ezra Collective “represent the very best of where we are now ,” Mercury judge Jamz Supernova said when announcing the destination of the gong. And she’s right: amidst a shortlist with lots to recommend, Ezra Collective epitomise everything great about music in 2023. Their sound is generous, warm and excitingly restless. Theirs is a Mercury win that will restore your faith in human nature and even, up to a point, in the soulless and corporate post-Covid music business.

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