Partisan Records' Jeff Bell and Zena White have mapped out their plan to build on Ezra Collective's Mercury Prize win and take jazz to the masses with the quintet's new album.
The London-based group, who star on the cover of the August issue of Music Week, signed with the indie in a deal announced in 2022 and went on to make history by claiming the Mercury award for their second studio album, Where I’m Meant To Be (28,792 sales, OCC), last year.
Not only was it the first ever victory at the ceremony for a jazz act, it was also the first win for the independent. And despite concerns that such recognition can make an act take their eye off the ball, Partisan COO White said the win has been “entirely beneficial” for Ezra Collective.
“It fully legitimised what the community of musicians and artists around them already knew, that they are a once-in-a-generation group that simultaneously take their music seriously and are world-class entertainers,” said White. “It came late in the campaign for Where I’m Meant To Be and raised awareness across the board. Having that to build on with such a strong new album to follow is a dream scenario for any label.”
Attention now turns to the band's third studio album, Dance, No One’s Watching, which was recorded at Abbey Road and is due to be released via Partisan on September 27.
The band are touring ahead of the release including Wild Fields Festival, All Points East and Green Man this weekend. A huge OVO Wembley Arena show is confirmed for November.
There is a reason that Ezra Collective are one of the most exciting, transcendental live bands on the planet
Jeff Bell
“There is a reason that Ezra Collective are one of the most exciting, transcendental live bands on the planet,” said Partisan’s VP, head of UK Jeff Bell. “Making this record, the goal was always to capture that spirit in a way that their previous albums hadn’t. A big part of that process was recording one version as clean as possible, and another in front of an audience of the band’s family and friends, and then mixing the two together so they seamlessly work in and out of each other.
"The beautiful thing was that the audience element was actually a surprise for the band, and included some loved ones that they hadn’t seen in years – so the joy that comes through is completely genuine.”
Ezra Collective now have more than 900,000 monthly Spotify listeners, led by What Am I To Do? which appeared on their 2019 debut You Can't Steal My Joy and has been streamed around 17 million times on the platform. Bell highlighted how their upcoming record reflected their increasingly global audience.
“The music evolved over the course of 18 months of shows, literally seeing the faces of fans as far reaching as Sydney, Lagos, Chicago, Tokyo, Amsterdam and Mexico City, all responding to the music being written and performed in real time after being pent-up in a pandemic for a few years,” he said. “That vibrancy is a very powerful thing when harnessed.”
Uppermost in their priorities for the new campaign is to attain the feeling that jazz is for everyone.
“We’ll achieve that by Ezra leading the genre into more accessible places,” said White. “Removing the barrier to entry from the cerebral environment of the club scene to dancefloors, Wembley Arena and festival main stages, all with the sense of community, freedom and joy that is innate to Ezra.”
It’s about generally developing the success of the band’s ‘singles’, beyond the strength of the live show and the album as a whole. This is all the next stage of the journey to the top of the mountain
Zena White
“In its very nature, jazz has always been about pushing boundaries – musicianship, songwriting, performance, culture,” added Bell. “As a result, it hasn’t always been immediately accessible for a wider audience.
"The fact that Ezra Collective are appearing on prime-time TV like Graham Norton, and being the first jazz artist to headline Wembley Arena and appear on the cover of Spotify UK’s New Music Friday, shows that the message of ‘Jazz is for everyone’ is getting through. Femi and TJ now even play characters on the CBeebies programme Yukee – if that doesn’t mean the genre is getting into new spaces, I’m not sure what does.”
Be that as it may, Bell's ultimate goal is to for Ezra Collective to transcend the traditional boundaries and become “a truly global force that crosses genre, borders and age”. A first step in that mission is a concerted effort to land the new tracks, such as God Gave Me Feet For Dancing, on summer playlists.
“It’s about generally developing the success of the band’s ‘singles’, beyond the strength of the live show and the album as a whole,” concluded White. “This is all the next stage of the journey to the top of the mountain.”
Subscribers can read the full Ezra Collective cover story, also featuring band members Femi Koleoso and Ife Ogunjobi, plus manager Amy Frenchum, in the new issue of Music Week.
