Ezra Collective Q&A at Love Supreme Festival

The Guardian is partnering with the Love Supreme Festival to host a live question-and-answer session with the acclaimed UK jazz ensemble, Ezra Collective. This event offers attendees and readers an opportunity to engage directly with the five-piece instrumental group, known for their energetic performances and genre-blending sound.

Ezra Collective has achieved significant recognition in recent years, notably becoming the first jazz act to win the Mercury Prize in 2023. They further solidified their critical success by winning Best Group at the Brit Awards in 2025. The band's musical style is characterized by a fusion of jazz traditions with West African melodies and rhythms, influenced by the upbringing of bandleader Femi Koleoso and his brother, bassist TJ Koleoso.

Formed in 2012 through the Tomorrow's Warriors jazz workshop, Ezra Collective honed their craft by observing jazz legends like drummer Tony Allen and incorporating influences from afrobeat, hip-hop, and jazz standards into their original music. Their debut EP, "Chapter 7," was independently released in 2016. This period also saw the emergence of a vibrant new wave of young jazz musicians in the UK, including saxophonist Nubya Garcia and drummer Moses Boyd, who collectively worked to broaden the appeal of jazz to a younger audience by moving away from traditional stereotypes.