Ezra Collective last night became the first jazz act to win the Mercury Prize, with their album ‘Where I'm Meant To Be’.
In winning the prestigious £25,000 prize, which celebrates the best British or Irish album of the last 12 months, the quintet held off competition from fellow nominees Jessie Ware, J Hus, Arctic Monkeys, Fred Again and Raye. After accepting the award, drummer Femi Koleoso described the group as "represents something very special."
He said: "This moment that we're celebrating right here is testament to good, special people putting time and effort into young people to play music.
"This is not just a result for Ezra Collective, or for UK jazz, but this is a special moment for every single organisation across the country, ploughing efforts and time into young people playing music." Ezra Collective were announced as the winners by DJ Jamz Supernova during the ceremony in Hammersmith, west London, on Thursday evening.
Accepting the prize, Koleoso thanked God, the band's team and family who have supported them through the years. He joked: "If a jazz band winning the Mercury Prize doesn't make you believe in God, I don't know what will."
Where I'm Meant To Be, while broadly categorised as jazz, is a melting pot of genres, with elements of grime, salsa and reggae. After being announced as winners, Koleoso explained: "We're the shuffle generation of music, we listen to some Beethoven, and then 50 Cent comes on straight after, and then Little Simz comes on just after that.
"And that kind of influences the way we approach music. So there are no rules, we love jazz, but at the same time we love salsa too, so why not try and get that in there?" Featuring live performances from nine of the shortlisted artists, J Hus had been due to perform but pulled out due to illness, while Arctic Monkeys and Fred Again were not present due to touring commitments.
The Mercury shortlist was chosen by an independent judging panel which included music critic Will Hodgkinson, musicians Anna Calvi and Jamie Cullum, and DJs Jamz Supernova and MistaJam.
