Over the last 14 years, the London based quintet Ezra Collective have undergone quite the journey. Through a series of blissful, communal gigs, three albums, a Mercury Prize and even a shout-out from Barack Obama, they’ve arguably become the biggest jazz band in the country.

A big reason for that success is the amount of joy that the band seem to exude – their last album, after all, was entitled Dance, Nobody’s Watching. But there comes a time when the partying has to stop and wider issues have to be considered, which is what Here Because of Hope addresses: although there’s not to say the urge to dance becomes any less strong.

Their fourth album is certainly their most ambitious to date. It’s divided into three parts, with each part introduced with a spoken word interlude by actress Letitia Wright. Each section of the album explores the lineage of Black music, beginning in West Africa, before moving to the Caribbean in the second part, and finally finishing in the band’s home city of London.

Blow Your Trumpet is a bit more restrained than you may expect from the title. Joe-Armon Jones’ piano motif kicks things off, before a relaxed dub reggae melody floats in to showcase Ife Ogunjobi’s mournful trumpet. It’s a lovely, calming way to begin the record, and may surprise anyone who associates Ezra Collective with a more adrenaline-fuelled approach.

The energy is gradually cranked up through the African section of the record. Femi Koleoso’s trademark polyrhythmic beats are written all over the glorious Sweet Echo, while Coventry rapper Pa Salieu takes centre stage on Only Love, an intoxicating mix of reggae, jazz and Afrobeat grooves, with Salieu’s Gambian heritage also influencing the track – like the best of Ezra Collective’s music, it’s a true melting pot.

The second part sees the focus shift to Caribbean music, with the barrage of brass on Birdie Sings immediately grabbing the attention. The highlight of this section is the sweet, slinky Well Organised, which features steel-pan drums and nagging, insistent, skittering beats – turned up loud, you can almost imagine it soundtracking an afternoon beach party.

This section is probably closest to that intoxicating atmosphere that Ezra Collective are so good at conjuring up. The brilliant El Corazon has a big party atmosphere cut right the way though it, with salsa and jazz funk rhythms and a delirious piano solo working their magic, while Bunny On The Rise is the most danceable moment on the album, full of the raw live energy that’s made them such a compelling act onstage.

Finally, the journey ends up back in the UK with the third section dedicated to the London scene. It’s pretty much the calm after the gorgeous euphoria of the Caribbean part – opening with a gloriously languid Leona Lewis fronted ballad, All I Need, that could almost be a lost Zero 7 or Morcheeba song.

There are more than a few nods to the UK Garage scene – Jubilee Feeling has some frantic, scattered beats underneath the layers of brass instrumentation, while Black Flag captures that feeling of walking home from a club as the sun rises above you, with James Mollison’s saxophone soaring over some intricate bass and percussion work.

At over an hour long, and due to the structure of the record, it’s not an album to dip in and out of. Yet it still shows off Ezra Collective’s exuberant and more reflective sides, providing not only a proud history of Black music but also a demonstration that, in these hands, it’s still very much in the rudest of health.