Ezra Collective’s run of career milestones continues.
Following a Mercury Prize win, BRIT Award triumph for British Group and a sold-out Wembley Arena show, the London jazz group have now secured their first UK No.1 album.
Here Because Of Hope, the group’s fourth full-length album, debuted at the summit with consumption of 13,181 units (6,457 CDs, 5,004 vinyl albums, 106 cassettes, 723 digital downloads and 891 sales-equivalent streams), according to the Official Charts Company. It also topped the official vinyl chart.
The result is a significant improvement on their first Top 10 album, Dance, No One’s Watching, which peaked at No.7 on consumption of 9,966 units in 2024.
As revealed in Alan Jones’ charts analysis, the album is the first No.1 categorised as jazz by the Official Charts Company since Dutch singer Caro Emerald in 2013. It’s all the more impressive in that Ezra Collective’s music is largely instrumental.
The chart-topping result for Ezra Collective also marks a fourth UK No.1 for US-based independent label Partisan, having previously topped the rankings with Idles (twice) and Fontaines DC.
“As a label, our job is to nurture and provide a platform for artists that begin in the margins, but have the power to truly change the cultural conversation,” said Jeff Bell, VP, head of UK at Partisan Records.
“It's not every day that an instrumental jazz act from North London completes the run from a youth club to a Mercury Prize, BRIT Award and No.1 album across three records,” he added. “It is a testament to both who they are as people and how hard they work, but the exciting part for the team is how it does genuinely feel like things are just getting started. Big thanks to the band themselves for being so inspiring, and to Amy Frenchum [Blue Raincoat Management] for steering the ship.”
Here Because of Hope celebrates the journey of Black music from West Africa, through the Caribbean and into Britain. The album release follows recent radio playlisted singles Only Love featuring Pa Salieu, Well Organised featuring Lila Iké and the instrumental Jubilee Feeling. The album – divided into three distinct movements – also features Leona Lewis and Libianca.
Ezra Collective hosted a special Here Because Of Hope block party pop-up on release day. Following record store appearances and a Roundhouse underplay show this month, they will head out on their biggest global headline tour to date, spanning Australia, Asia, North America, Europe and the UK.
The UK run will see the band play four sold-out nights at London’s O2 Academy Brixton (March 18-21, 2027), following previous sold-out headline performances at Wembley Arena and the Royal Albert Hall.
Here, just four months after Partisan celebrated their Independent Record Company win at the Music Week Awards, Jeff Bell talks us through the triumphant chart campaign with Ezra Collective…
Following key moments in recent years – Wembley Arena, the Mercury Prize, BRIT Award, a Top 10 breakthrough – how has Ezra Collective's audience grown up to this point? Did you raise the ambitions for this record?
“The mission with Ezra Collective has never been about specific accolades, but about how those milestones represent a broken barrier. Being the ‘first jazz artist to…’ is obviously very rewarding, but it’s more about the opportunities that these firsts create, and the conversations they start. To quote Femi Koleoso: ‘The most exciting thing about a Mercury Prize, a BRIT award, or even a No.1 album [for Ezra Collective] is the example it sets to all the young people out there that are thinking they would love to one day achieve one of those things, but they want to do it with a saxophone or a clarinet or a trombone in their hands.’ Now there is a model, and it’s been a true collaboration with Amy Frenchum and the band to build it over the last three records. At the same time, it does feel like we are just getting started.”
Jazz will always be in the DNA of what Ezra Collective does, but by definition, jazz is about pushing boundaries
Jeff Bell
How have Ezra Collective developed as a musical force and jazz act incorporating multiple global and genre influences?
“Jazz will always be in the DNA of what Ezra Collective does, but by definition, jazz is about pushing boundaries. On this record the band intentionally sequenced it in three distinct musical chapters that collectively represent the history of Black music travelling from West Africa to the Caribbean, and then to the UK. Each of those movements incorporates the musical legacies of Afrobeat, high life, reggae, dancehall, salsa, dub, breakbeat, lovers rock, etc. Each movement also received its own feature artists, visual worlds, physical formats, merch drops and promo opportunities to help bring fans into that story.”
The album release was preceded by a series of singles, how did this help to build up the release momentum? How key was radio support to expanding their audience?
“Radio has played a significant part in the band’s trajectory from the very start. Ivano Maggiulli at Brace Yourself has done an incredible job helping the platform understand the importance of Ezra Collective in the UK, to the point where they are now a core artist across Radio 1, Radio 1Xtra and 6 Music, with multiple A-lists across all of these on this campaign. That is not a small achievement for a primarily instrumental act. True to form, they even performed the first ever fully instrumental Live Lounge last week.”
What was the concept behind the block party pop-up launch, how did it help to kick off release week in terms of media and social coverage?
“Community has always been the driving force behind Ezra Collective. The block party was less about the online push and more about simply bringing people together to experience the record for the first time, share some food, dance, and spend time with each other and the band in a real-life setting. It was mission accomplished to see everyone showing up, from kids who had got off school early to entire families to people who were there for a genuine night out. We rolled out similar things across Berlin, Amsterdam and Paris to similar effect.”
Community has always been the driving force behind Ezra Collective
Jeff Bell
With four sold-out Brixton shows, how strong is their live business across the UK? How will special guests add to the excitement for these shows?
“Ezra Collective are about to be an arena act in this country – shout out to Claudio Lillo at CAA – and the thought of so many people getting to experience that show over the next few years genuinely brings the team a lot of joy. Anyone that has seen it knows just how special an experience it can be, and the community around the band extends from the fans to the many, many artists that share their vision. So any given tour date can see the band sharing the stage with anyone from a youth club of brass players to a gospel choir to JME or Fred Again..”
Following their many achievements, where do you think the band can go from here? What are the international opportunities as they head out to multiple territories in 2026 and 2027?
“From here it is indeed about taking EZ to the world; the message has never been more relevant. Over the next few months they will be playing to audiences in Australia, Japan, South Korea, China, and then on to the US which is a particular focus over the next phases of the campaign. Then in 2027 they’ll be playing the biggest shows they ever have across the UK and Europe with even higher ambitions in the works. The mission isn’t complete yet.”
PHOTO: Sergio Pontier
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