It's early morning in London and Femi Koleoso, drummer and band leader for London jazz ensemble Ezra Collective, is still buzzing from the band's big win the night before.
At the previous evening's coveted Gilles Peterson Worldwide Awards, Ezra Collective's debut album 'You Can't Steal My Joy' picked up the title award for 'Jazz Album Of The Year'.The magnitude of the win has not been lost on Femi. “That's a really special honour, we are so happy about that,” Femi says.
“To win Jazz Album Of The Year, that means a lot and it means so much because it was a public vote. It's exciting, even just being a jazz band and talking about touring Australia and Asia, and places we never even dreamt of it being possible means the most. Just really excited about the journey really.”
Given what an award like that signifies for band like Ezra Collective, Femi says he hasn't let it affect his outlook for what lies ahead for the band in 2020. “My mindset hasn't really changed too much,” he says.
“It's about appreciating every good moment that we have together and documenting that journey, whatever that documentation looks like – shows and gigs that we can be really proud of, or songs that we write, or maybe a whole project.
“That's my mindset: to keep going, keep working as hard as possible and keep that positive energy that we've currently got between us.”
That positive energy will bring Ezra Collective all the way to Australia for a series of shows including WOMADelaide. “I've been to Australia twice now,” Femi says.
“I went once with Nubya Garcia and I went once with Georgia Smith, and I loved every second of being there – the vibe, I'm really into a lot of Australian music, I'm really into the culture and everything so I'm excited to just be a part of it.”
Asked what Australian bands and artists he listens to and follows, Femi easily rattles off a list that includes Sampa The Great, 30/70 and Hiatus Kaiyote with whom Femi says Ezra Collective share a special bond. “We had the most magical night with them recently in Hamburg,” he says.
“We were both playing a festival – Ezra Collective first then Hiatus Kaiyote second – and they all watched our gig, we all watched their gig and then we spent the night dancing to Afrobeat music and having a couple of cans. That was really special and I'm looking forward to building on that relationship we've made with them.”
Apart from Australian music, like any self-respecting Englishman Femi is also fond of our other major export. “Come on man, 'Neighbours' is close to my heart,” he laughs.
“Yo, basically when I was in secondary school that was the soap opera I used to watch because I couldn't deal with the darkness of 'Eastenders' because every, single time it's so sad. 'Neighbours' was a nice, little 30 minutes in the sun for us in grey England, do you know what I mean? So I did appreciate 'Neighbours'.”
With a little understanding, Femi hopes to indulge himself in all things 'Neighbours' on the official Ramsay Street tour. “Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, I checked it up the last time I was there but I was too busy with festivals, but I'm hoping I'll get some more time off this time to really spend some time with Susan and Karl [Kennedy],” he laughs.
Ezra Collective 2020 Tour Dates
Fri 6 Mar - The Corner Hotel (Melbourne)Sat 7 Mar - Golden Plains Festival (Meredith)
Sun 8 Mar - WOMADelaide @ Botanic Park (Adelaide)
Thu 12 Mar - Oxford Art Factory (Sydney)
