The old trope has it that nice guys finish last. I don’t know when the belief that niceness is the same as weakness penetrated our society. But I do know that it’s just negative nonsense, as proven recently by a groundbreaking UK jazz-fusion-like-you-never-heard-it-before quintet called Ezra Collective.

They broke the mold by being the first jazz act ever to win Britain’s annual Mercury Prize since its inception in 1992. That’s 31 years ago!

The Mercury Prize, according to its website, is “the music equivalent to the Booker Prize for literature and the Turner Prize for art.” Heady stuff!

The award show took place Sept 7. I watched YouTube recordings of all 12 nominees performing and felt great pride for my birth country’s undeniable and enormous talent for music. Here are a couple of my personal favourites that didn’t win, but that made a helluva impact on me:

So now you’ve got a good idea of the energy that night, let me tell you that when Ezra Collective performed, I had a smile from ear to ear as I watched. Clearly I’m not alone, as I read later that the audience gave them a standing ovation. See for yourself!

And here’s why I say that nice guys finish first. The band’s leader and drummer, Femi Koleoso, a devout Christian, who first of all thanked God for what had happened, said in his impassioned acceptance speech:

“We met in a youth club, and this moment we’re celebrating is testimony to good, special people who put in the time and effort for young people playing music… this award is dedicated to every single organisation across the country ploughing their efforts into helping young people play music.”

Nice. Very nice.

Here’s the video that shows the surprise and joy bursting out of the band members when their win was announced, and also the moving speech:

One commenter on this YouTube page noted: “Love these guys, been rocking from day 1, seen and met them numerous times and they are brilliant, kind and positive.”

Guy Garvey, Elbow’s lead singer and a British institution at this point, said of Ezra Collective in his regular weekend BBC Radio 6 Music show, Guy Garvey’s Finest Hour, “They’re a ray of sunshine. When they’re in [the studio] there’s a different atmosphere around the place, ‘cause they are, to a man, gentle, kind, lovely people.”

In a world where mainstream media focuses almost exclusively on disasters and horrors (“if it bleeds, it leads”) it’s all too easy to believe we’re all going to hell in a handbasket. The guys in this band are living, breathing, rocking proof that goodness still exists, and nice guys – especially when they’re united in heart and supported by other nice guys – finish first.

Amen to that!

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay