Roy Ayers died March 4th in New York City at the age of 84 after a long illness. Ayers’ work as a vibraphonist, composer, and producer is always cited as a wellspring of the Acid Jazz scene of the ’90s. The Los Angeles native came from a musical family and was blessed with his first pair of mallets at the age of five from legendary jazz vibes player Lionel Hampton. He started his career in the ’60s playing bebop but his work on the 1973 film Coffy, starring Pam Grier, took him into the direction of funk and R&B. The discovery of his sonic home was informed by a desire to put a happy feeling into all of music.
The reinvention of his sound produced several key albums from Ayers in the ’70s and ’80s, including Mystic Voyage, Everybody Loves The Sunshine, You Send Me, and Africa, Center Of The World. Jazz players like Miles Davis and Weather Report opted for a more rock-oriented sound in their fusion. Others, like Lou Donaldson, blended jazz with blues and soul. Ayers had found a style somewhere between funk, R&B and jazz that was more accessible to the average listener. This sensibility was picked up on by people like Jamiroquai, Sade, The Brand New Heavies, Omar, Erykah Badu, and Digable Planets. When he named his band Ubiquity in the ’70s, he achieved the goal of being everywhere with an influence on every artist that tapped into feel-good grooves from the jazz, funk, and soul nucleus.
In the ’80s, he appeared on Rick James’ Throwin Down album and produced Sylvia Striplin’s much-loved debut album, Give Me Your Love. Ayers released new music in the ’90s and several popular compilations came out, including the Polydor Anthology. He also managed to have his vibes heard on two of the decade’s seminal albums: the Red Hot Organization’s Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool and Guru’s Jazzmatazz Vol. 1. In the 2000s, he started working with house music artists, including Masters At Work and Kerri Chandler. His connection to rap made it to another generation with an appearance on Tyler, The Creator’s 2015 Cherry Bomb album. Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge fulfilled their wish and had Ayers on a 2020 release from their Jazz Is Dead project. Ayers’ reach continues to grow because he is one of the most sampled artists. His last collection as a leader was Mahogany Vibe, which was his 40th studio album released in 2004.
