Ezra Collective: The astonishing rise of London’s most important band

Brothers TJ and Femi Koleoso — the bass player and drummer of jazz quintet Ezra Collective respectively — were walking up Wembley Way last month to see their beloved Arsenal play in the Carabao Cup Final. “We were approaching the stadium and Femi just turned to me, just like, ‘We can do this, man,’” says TJ, 30. By “do this”, Femi wasn’t referring to Arsenal’s chances of winning the game (they lost 2-0 to Manchester City — “terrible match”, says TJ). He meant that their band could, one day, perform a concert at Wembley Stadium, the 90,000-capacity venue of choice for the likes of Oasis, Harry Styles and Taylor Swift. “I said, ‘You’ve been like this since day one,’” continues TJ. “We’d go and watch a gig in [small Camden venue] Koko and Femi would say, ‘We can do this, man.’ Then we’d go to the [bigger] Roundhouse and he’d say, ‘We can do this, man.’” Readers, Ezra Collective did both — and plenty more besides.