Jazz has always been music people danced to. Ezra Collective have never forgotten that.
Dance, No One’s Watching takes that idea seriously, moving through jazz, Afrobeat, highlife, soul and club culture without treating any of them as decorative influences.
This is contemporary London jazz with its doors wide open.
There are big communal moments, tightly organised ensemble passages and enough rhythmic detail to reward repeat listening. Guests including Yazmin Lacey, Olivia Dean, M.anifest and Moonchild Sanelly broaden the palette further without breaking the flow of the album.
The record is structured almost like a night out: anticipation, movement, connection and the gradual journey towards the other side of the night.
“God Gave Me Feet for Dancing” says much of it in the title. The groove matters here, but so does musicianship — Femi Koleoso’s drums, Joe Armon-Jones’ keyboards and the band's horn arrangements give the album real depth underneath its immediacy.
It is joyous jazz without being lightweight jazz.
New and sealed standard black 2LP edition on Partisan Records.
Housed in a wide-spine outer sleeve with printed inner sleeves.
Catalogue: PTKF3049-1
Barcode: 0720841304913
Carefully packed and securely dispatched.
Released in September 2024, Dance, No One’s Watching followed Ezra Collective’s Mercury Prize-winning Where I’m Meant to Be and continued the group’s exploration of jazz as communal, contemporary music.
The album runs to 15 tracks across two LPs, including collaborations with Yazmin Lacey, Olivia Dean, M.anifest and Moonchild Sanelly.
This barcode identifies the standard black-vinyl edition rather than the separate satin-red indie pressing.
Jazz has always been music people danced to. Ezra Collective have never forgotten that.
Dance, No One’s Watching takes that idea seriously, moving through jazz, Afrobeat, highlife, soul and club culture without treating any of them as decorative influences.
This is contemporary London jazz with its doors wide open.
There are big communal moments, tightly organised ensemble passages and enough rhythmic detail to reward repeat listening. Guests including Yazmin Lacey, Olivia Dean, M.anifest and Moonchild Sanelly broaden the palette further without breaking the flow of the album.
The record is structured almost like a night out: anticipation, movement, connection and the gradual journey towards the other side of the night.
“God Gave Me Feet for Dancing” says much of it in the title. The groove matters here, but so does musicianship — Femi Koleoso’s drums, Joe Armon-Jones’ keyboards and the band's horn arrangements give the album real depth underneath its immediacy.
It is joyous jazz without being lightweight jazz.
New and sealed standard black 2LP edition on Partisan Records.
Housed in a wide-spine outer sleeve with printed inner sleeves.
Catalogue: PTKF3049-1
Barcode: 0720841304913
Carefully packed and securely dispatched.
Released in September 2024, Dance, No One’s Watching followed Ezra Collective’s Mercury Prize-winning Where I’m Meant to Be and continued the group’s exploration of jazz as communal, contemporary music.
The album runs to 15 tracks across two LPs, including collaborations with Yazmin Lacey, Olivia Dean, M.anifest and Moonchild Sanelly.
This barcode identifies the standard black-vinyl edition rather than the separate satin-red indie pressing.
