Ezra Collective – Here Because Of Hope (2xLP, Blue Vinyl)

"Here Because Of Hope" by Ezra Collective is the most ambitious and personal album of their career - conceived as a work divided into three spiritual and geographical sections, the album traces the migration of black people across continents and decades, from the music of Africa to the rhythms of the Caribbean to the streets of London.

Formed in the youth clubs of London, Mercury Prize and BRIT Award winners Femi Koleoso, TJ Koleoso, Joe Armon-Jones, James Mollison and Ife Ogunjobi have been making jazz a joyful, immersive and irresistible experience for over a decade.

On "Here Because Of Hope" they push this vision further than ever before, asking a simple but profound question: why does so much black music born out of pain sound so joyful? Their answer is hope: the belief, passed down across generations and oceans, that something better is possible.

Drawing on collaborations with Pa Salieu, Lila Iké and Leona Lewis, and looking across the breadth of the global African diaspora (including the Americas, where those same African and Caribbean roots gave birth to jazz itself), "Here Because Of Hope" is an album of remarkable warmth, ambition and humanity - and the sound of Britain's most vibrant band at the height of their creative powers.