Just watch a few minutes of Ezra Collective’s Tiny Desk Concert, released at the end of 2022 (to coincide with the release of their album Where I’m Meant to Be), to be absolutely convinced of the talent of this flagship group of the new London scene. Led by Femi Koleoso, Tony Allen’s heir and Gorillaz’s new drummer, the London collective has just recorded one of the year’s benchmarks. These young English musicians have nothing to envy their American cousins ​​in terms of harmonic erudition and instrumental virtuosity, and manage to offer highly polished music and a true group sound. It must be said that pianist Joe Armon Jones, with his amazing fluidity and groove, is the main architect of the collective’s success, whose strongest references are 1960s Afro-jazz, Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat, but also hip-hop and Cuban music – listen to “Victory Dance”: something to end the evening dancing, that’s for sure!