Ezra Collective – Where I'm Meant To Be
With Where I’m Meant To Be, the jazz quintet have crafted a supremely effective call to surrender yourself to the present and celebrate life through dance
Life Goes On, the opening track of Ezra Collective’s second studio effort, Where I’m Meant To Be, immediately compels you to dance. Decorated with a blazing hot sax and Sampa the Great’s rousing vocals, the track is an exhilarating blast of sonic joy that encapsulates the album’s life-affirming spirit.
At the start of the electric Kojey Radical-assisted No Confusion, we hear commentary from the late Fela Kuti collaborator Tony Allen, who remarks, 'I’m playing jazz my way'. And with the integration of neo-soul, rap and Afrobeats across the album, the Afro-Cuban flavour of Victory Dance, and the dub- and reggae-informed Ego Killah, it’s clear Ezra Collective are doing just that.
Togetherness will trigger many a stank face as the slinky sax and drumkick combo takes on a hypnotic quality, like a snake charmer working his magic in a Moroccan souk. It’s at this point that the brazen swagger expressed in the first few tracks slips into a relaxed quiet confidence that is sustained throughout the rest of the album.
With Where I’m Meant To Be, the jazz quintet have crafted a supremely effective call to surrender yourself to the present and celebrate life through dance.
Listen to: Life Goes On, Togetherness, Love In Outer Space