Ife Ogunjobi: Reimagining the music of Chet Baker and winning a BRIT Award with Ezra Collective

With Ezra Collective, Ife Ogunjobi has won the Mercury Prize and a BRIT Award, and he even has a GRAMMY to his name for his work on the Bob Marley: One Love soundtrack album. Following the release of his debut solo EP in 2023, this London-born trumpeter and jazz artist has revelled in the chance to be part of the Chet Baker Re:imagined album on the legendary jazz label Blue Note. Presented with the chance to rework the music of one of his all-time heroes, jazz icon Chet Baker, he chats to Headliner about his new single, Speak Low, and why he’s keeping a level head amidst Ezra Collective’s unstoppable success.

Born to Nigerian parents, Ogunjobi grew up in southeast London, where his home and surroundings immersed him in the sounds of jazz, afrobeat, and hip-hop. He was introduced to the likes of Fela Kuti, Erykah Badu, and jazz trumpeter Roy Hargrove, which are sounds you can hear in all his projects to this day.

Ogunjobi is most famous as one-fifth of the jazz quintet Ezra Collective. Fusing the sounds of jazz, afrobeat, reggae, and soul, it is difficult to overstate the success of the group, who have brought enormous energy to the UK’s contemporary jazz scene. 

They met each other at the jazz youth project Tomorrow’s Warriors in London, which has helped produce other artists such as Soweto Kinch. The band scooping the Mercury Prize for Where I'm Meant to Be in 2023 was quite a feat, but a jazz band winning Group Of The Year at this year’s BRIT Awards, the biggest, most mainstream music ceremony in the UK, was a jaw-dropping achievement for the group. 

In both his acceptance speeches, drummer and bandleader Femi Koleoso used the opportunity to highlight the fact Ezra Collective wouldn’t exist without youth centres and youth music projects such as Tomorrow’s Warriors and the existential threat they face with so many cuts to public and arts funding in the UK. 

And, besides arguably reaching the UK live music pinnacle by headlining Wembley Arena, they received another unique accolade when Barack Obama placed them on his 25 favourite songs of the year in 2024 — it was God Gave Me Feet for Dancing that chimed with the 44th American president.

Ogunjobi is also a GRAMMY winner for his part in the Bob Marley: One Love soundtrack album, which picked up the 2025 Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album. His three awards feel akin to Manchester United winning the treble — perhaps an Oscar is the only missing piece of a Manchester City-esque quadruple. He will tell you, however, that he isn’t in it for the awards and accolades.

Apart from Ezra Collective, he has graced stages such as Madison Square Garden twice, performing with Wizkid and Burna Boy, respectively. 

His name as a solo act is rapidly picking up pace, with credits including a sold-out headline show at the EFG London Jazz Festival, festival appearances at Love Supreme and We Out Here, and his excellent and well-received EP STAY TRUE in 2023.

Ogunjobi chats to Headliner from home in London and, in true British style, is very enthusiastic about the first signs of Spring sunshine at the latter end of March. “The weather is picking up,” he says. “The sun is coming out, it’s still a little bit chilly. But you can't complain when you see a bit of sun in London.”

In regards to first picking up a trumpet and the life-altering trajectory that set him on, he says, “I've been doing music for a long time; my mum got me into music lessons at a local music school on Saturdays. I have been playing piano since I was four years old. But when I was 10, I saw the legendary South African trumpet player, who sadly passed, Hugh Masekela. 

"I think it was at the Royal Festival Hall. When I saw that performance, it changed things for me because it was the first time I saw a trumpet in a live context. Something about the sound and energy of the instrument really spoke to me. After that concert, I was bugging my mum, saying I wanted to play the trumpet. And she's thinking, ‘I've wasted all this money on piano now!’” 

Becoming involved in a Chet Baker project and album was by no means a casual bit of work for Ogunjobi, as he speaks passionately about how discovering the jazz legend’s music and playing style proved pivotal in his own life and music making. 

Dubbed ‘The Prince of Cool’ in the 1950s for his innovations in the cool jazz subgenre (also made famous by the likes of Miles Davis), Baker remains one of the most enduring figures of early jazz, with tracks such as Autumn Leaves and My Funny Valentine keeping a firm place in the jazz repertoire.

“When I was learning jazz and the trumpet in my early days, his music made a lot of sense to me,” Ogunjobi says. “When you’re starting out, jazz is quite complicated to grasp. But Chet Baker's music felt really natural. 

"I need to word this in the right way because I don't want to say it’s simple. It felt natural and effortless. That helped me get to grips with jazz and understand the music — he was a musician who really helped me.

“I think one ability that Chet Baker has over a lot of jazz musicians is that his music speaks to a lot of people who aren't necessarily jazz heads or heavily into jazz. Whether it’s his trumpet playing or when he's singing, it moves people; it speaks to people. 

"And, for me, that's the main purpose of music: being able to connect with people. That's something I always try to take from his music; being able to communicate through music with a range of people, regardless of what genre it is.”

The full Chet Baker Re:imagined will be released on May 16th on Blue Note Records, the legendary home of jazz greats including Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, and Herbie Hancock. The collection of reworks celebrates the 70th anniversary of Baker’s seminal record Chet Baker Sings. 

"The label has been drip-feeding the singles from an exciting and diverse range of artists, including UK artists dodie and Joel Culpepper, Californian mxmtoon, South Korean Sara Kang, and Australian-Filipino grentperez. Ogunjobi’s brilliant version of Speak Low dropped on the 31st of January.

On becoming involved with the album, Ogunjobi says, “It made a lot of sense, being a trumpet player and someone who has been inspired by Chet Baker in my early years. And it was a good opportunity for me as well because, although I'm inspired by jazz, I would say a lot of my influences are Nigerian afrobeat, fuji music, and stuff like that. 

"So I always wanted to put that spin on that kind of music as well. It was a nice way for me to combine different elements of my influences.

“It’s an incredible and iconic label [Blue Note], and is one that has inspired me countless times through Herbie Hancock to Wayne Shorter to Miles Davis, everybody. To even be associated with the label and now to have a song out with them is incredible. In terms of the lineage of jazz, it's a big deal.”

Ogunjobi could not have understood the ‘reimagining’ brief more clearly. Baker’s version is a great example of the ‘cool jazz’ he built his name on with a small group of musicians playing in the seemingly languid style. 

As Ogunjobi points out, Baker’s playing is somehow both simple and deeply complex at the same time. There’s also a slowed-down version by the late jazz trumpeter Roy Hargrove.

With this new version by Ogunjobi, you have to listen a few times to understand how the two songs are connected. The Londoner has set the original piece to a faster beat with West African sounds and rhythms, his own production with some electronic drum sounds and keys, and a bass guitar part that is much more West African than it is 1950s California. It’s an irresistible track.

“They actually gave me licence to pick whichever Chet Baker song I wanted,” he explains. “I initially wanted to choose My Funny Valentine, but someone had already picked that [Matt Maltese]. So then I was searching for a while because I didn't know exactly which song I wanted, but I knew the kind of qualities I wanted in the song. 

"I picked Speak Low because I think the melody is very malleable in my opinion. It's a melody that leaves a lot of room for interpretation. So I didn't feel too boxed in. I didn't feel too restricted. I was able to blend the tune into whatever I wanted it to be while still keeping the identity.”

Before working with the other incredible musicians who feature on the track, Ogunjobi started by making the beat. 

“I produced the track and made the electronic drums. I wanted to bring that afrobeat sound, not like Fela Kuti, more like Burna Boy and Wiz Kid. That's a big part of my culture, a big part of the music I listen to and my identity. Then, once I put the melody on top of that, it just found its way into what it needed to be. 

"My dad says a funny thing, ‘What’s the point of music if you can’t dance to it?’ Take that with a pinch of salt, but there is some truth in that. For me, even if there is a track you can’t dance to, you still want to be able to feel the music. That’s why I knew I wanted to make this version a high-energy track because I knew the melody had that potential.”

The Re:imagined album is a fantastic showcase of how powerful music can be: Chet Baker was a white American who grew up in Oklahoma in the 1930s in a very different time (although many of the societal problems from that era remain), and his life was defined by his music and then tragically claimed by heroin addiction. 

"Ogunjobi is a Londoner born to Nigerian parents, with an approach to music and the trumpet that is both similar and completely different at the same time. He considers how wonderful it is to now be connected to Baker in this way and be part of his story.

“It's incredible,” he says. “Music really can break down a lot of barriers in society and culturally. He's from America, from a completely different time and decade. But his music still has relevance today. It still inspires people today, and it's beautiful that it has been realised in the creation of this song. 

"Hopefully, by me reimagining it, I can do that for someone else decades down the line. This is the kind of power that music has to bring people together, who think they have nothing in common. Sometimes we have more in common than we think, and sometimes a song can bring that out in people.”

You could be forgiven for thinking that, with Ezra Collective now certified Mercury Prize and BRIT Award winners, Ojunjobi might be looking for that next huge dopamine hit of winning another major music award and excited for the next glitzy red carpet music event and getting to rub shoulders with famous musicians and celebrity hosts. However, that isn’t where his head is at — he largely wants to just crack on with the music.

“There are plenty of great musicians in this day and age that are doing so well in their careers and haven't won anything,” he says. 

“Winning awards is so low on my list of priorities. In terms of my career and what I want to do musically, my highest priorities are connecting with audiences, expanding fan bases, playing great shows live and connecting with people live. I cherish that a lot more than winning an award. 

"Those memories and those moments are precious; you can cherish them forever, and they actually have an impact on other people's lives. An award is an object. It's great to win one, and the significance of winning that award can be great as well. But at the same time, I think it's having these interactions with people and impacting people's lives; that's priceless.”

In both acceptance speeches, bandleader Femi Koleoso spoke about Ezra Collective and each of his bandmates being indebted to youth centres and youth music projects. And how having a musical instrument, a musical practice, and a dream can be so vital in helping the UK’s youth follow a positive route in life. Ogunjobi certainly shares that sentiment and feels the UK has a lot of work to do in this regard.

“I went to the Borough Music School when I was young every Saturday for years,” he recalls. “Those were formative years of me learning my instrument, getting the foundation, and also just having a community of people that I played music with. And then projects like Tomorrow’s Warriors were just a continuation of my Saturday music school.

“I think there’s a lot of work to be done — everywhere you’re looking now, something’s being torn down and a new block of flats is being put up. I know a lot of people think art isn’t a valuable part of society. But when I think of London, I don't think about the blocks of flats being put up. 

"I think of things like Notting Hill Carnival. I think of places like the Southbank Centre that put on great events. I think of places like Tate Modern, which have great art exhibitions. A lot of these places are protected, such as the Tate Modern and the Southbank Centre. 

"But a lot of the people and a lot of the projects that go on in there start with people from youth clubs, young creative centres that can develop and nurture their talent. To help them one day get the chance to do something in those kinds of places. If we keep losing these spaces for young people to express themselves artistically, that’s going to get harder and harder, and we’re going to lose those communities.” 

Besides Speak Low being out to enjoy already and the full Chet Baker Re:imagined album releasing on May 16th, there are also plenty of Ife Ogunjobi solo slots and Ezra Collective appearances across the UK and Europe at festivals this Summer. 

And as for more solo music this year, “There's definitely more music coming this year. Very, very soon.”