Over an hour of collaboration, jazz fusion and rhythmic power brings out the best in Ezra Collective. Their sophomore album, Where I’m Meant to Be, shows they are comfortable exactly where they are. But comfort can lead to conformity. Key to that is noting Ezra Collective is, like any good cooperative, pushing through and striking up a slate of strong moments and musical partnerships. Digging into the core of that is the need to move on further. That thumping brass opens first track Life Goes On, and life does, assuredly, go on. Ezra Collective are a spectacularly upbeat group still spreading their characteristic charm as best they can. Samba-like structures bleed through into some nicely worked jazz-funk pieces over and over.
Ezra Collective have a clear ability here to shift the body, make it move to the likes of Victory Dance with well-timed instrumentals. That back-and-forth between trumpet presence and effective cymbal tapping is joyous. Cheers and swaying brilliance on Live Strong is a clear high. Presence like that lends itself to a feeling of improvisation, but the slick and well-layered piano that nails the interludes and often lengthy instrumentals lends itself to that infamous Tony Allen sample on No Confusion. Playing their way gives the five-piece jazz troupe a stylish track listing that offers clear understanding of their place on the music scene. Thick skins and armour against criticism have seen them through so far, as it does on Where I’m Meant to Be and the knockback that smooth piece of jazz-fusion presents.
Welcome to My World presents the overall experience of Ezra Collective well. Siesta provides that crucial quality achieved by making it feel as though the Emile Sandé-led piece is performed right there in your living room. Ezra Collective’s trumpet and saxophone displays are wrapped in warm melodies, integral percussion and a real understanding of what the group can do for jazz. Drummer Femi Koleoso put it best. Jazz has “always been to take different elements and put them together.” It does not get flashier than that, greater than that, and the subjectivity of the music presented by Ezra Collective depends on that simplicity. Where it takes the quintet is higher and higher, moving and booming instrumentals that find their place on this seventy-minute album well.
Ego Killah flows through with a relaxed momentum that sticks the title right at the meaning of its blur of musical collisions. Consistency is key to a powerful but measured listen. Where I’m Meant to Be shows off where Ezra Collective is but gives no hint of where they could go next. Constant jazz numbers often feel a little too long for their own good, losing their flow but keeping hold of their passionate offerings. They bring swinging, good vibes on this piece as Words by Steve makes clear. But breaking through to that other side is a little way off. Where I’m Meant to Be finds comfort in the structure of standards and jazz collaboration and pushes them on. Far beyond the string-clad beauties of moving highlight Belonging, further through the explosive Never the Same Again. Ezra Collective shift jazz onto modern surroundings but could very easily swing with the best.
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