Alliance Entertainment
Ezra Collective - Chapter 7 (10th Anniversary)
Product details
Description
Ten years on, Ezra Collective's debut EP Chapter 7 returns in a 10th anniversary edition, expanded with two live recordings that trace the band's rise from small rooms to grand stages.
Back in 2016, the London five-piece were a hungry young band cutting their teeth in the city's club and jam-session scene, determined to prove jazz could be the sound of a packed dancefloor. This short, punchy release was their first statement, and it set out everything that would later carry them to the Mercury Prize and a Brit Award: grooves first, community always.
"Enter the Jungle" and "Chasing the Square" lay out their blend of Afrobeat rhythm, hip hop swagger and spiritual jazz, with Femi Koleoso's restless drumming driving the band forward. The title track features rapper Ty and "I Have a God" brings in the gorgeous voice of Zara McFarlane; both songs return here in live form, recorded at NPR's Tiny Desk and the Royal Albert Hall respectively.
Hearing the studio takes beside the live versions shows just how far the band travelled in a decade, without losing an ounce of fire.
For fans who found them through their later albums, this is where the story starts, and it still sounds as fresh and urgent as the day it arrived.