'Reopen the youth clubs' Ezra Collective star on nurturing artistic talent

Ezra Collective star on nurturing artistic talent

- Lanre Bakare

After the high of a record-breaking night at the Brits where his band, Ezra Collective, not only became the first jazz group to perform live but also scooped the best group gong, Femi Koleoso was quickly brought back to earth.

At the Jubilee youth club in Enfield, north London, where he volunteers, the drummer and band leader was trying to teach kids how to flip pancakes, dealing with flying batter and banter only 48 hours after he was on stage in front of thousands. "I had 100 kids trying to celebrate pancake day without killing themselves," he said. "It was just a mess."

Koleoso and the rest of Ezra Collective, who formed at Tomorrow's Warriors jazz youth club in Camden and have been at the forefront of the British jazz scene for nearly a decade, are big believers in youth clubs. "This moment right here," said Koleoso during the group's acceptance speech, "is because of the great youth clubs and the great teachers and schools that support young people playing music."