Roy Ayers

Regardless of what kind of song he was playing, Roy Ayers was always seductive. While the jazz establishment initially derided his fusion of jazz, funk, and disco, Ayers’ innovations were ratified by hip-hop culture, which adopted him as a hero in the '90s. He was on a creative hot streak for almost 10 years, which makes a 10-track distillation of his work difficult. However, 20th Century Masters offers a concise summation of the man’s designs, which are as fun and entrancing now as when they were released. “Running Away” confirms Ayers’ disco genius; few songs in the genre are as multidimensional or as musical. “We Live in Brooklyn, Baby” is an elegant storm cloud of a song, the most influential of all Ayers’ ghetto messages.

Once one of the most visible and winning jazz vibraphonists of the 1960s, then an R&B bandleader in the 1970s and '80s, Roy Ayers' reputation s now that of one of the prophets of acid jazz, a man decades ahead of his time. A tune like 1972's "Move to Groove" by the Roy Ayers Ubiquity has a crackling backbeat that serves as the prototype for the shuffling hip-hop groove that became, shall we say, ubiquitous on acid jazz records; and his relaxed 1976 song "Everybody Loves the Sunshine" has been frequently sampled.

This retrospective spotlights a prolific purple patch in Ayers’ career, focusing on the mid-to- late 1970s when he took the vibraphone into the pop mainstream via a series of commercially successful albums for Polydor Records.Roy’s Band, which had previously been known as the Roy Ayers Quartet - a name that Ayers thought was too “square” and described as “a drag” - morphed into a much larger ensemble called Roy Ayers Ubiquity. Ayers said: “At that time, in 1970 when I joined Polydor, my manager, said ‘Roy, you should name the group Ubiquity.’ I said what does that mean? ‘Ubiquity means a state of being everywhere at the same time.’ I said, ‘That’s fate because if everyone has one of my albums I will be everywhere.’ I thought it was great so I started using that name.”

Digitally remastered and expanded edition of this 1987 album from the Jazz/Funk pioneer. "I'm the One (For Your Love Tonight)" was his final set for Columbia Records. Unlike it's predecessors for the label, Roy produced the album himself working with his then-bassist David Metcen who co-produced and contributed five songs to the nine-track set. Other Ayers' band members playing on the album included William Allen and Dennis Davis with long-time friend James Bedford contributing his songwriting talents on three songs. Standout tracks include a cover of the Isley Brothers' 'I Once Had Your Love,' the soulful slow jam, 'Let Me Love You' (featuring singer Chandra Currelley, formerly of the S. O. S. Band), the funky 'Crack Attack' and the vibes-dominated instrumental, 'Blue Summer. ' This expanded edition includes an extended dance mix of the title track. Notes by renowned U. S. writer Lewis Dene (former contributor to the UK's Blues & Soul magazine) include quotes from a 2011 interview with Roy.

"Africa, Center of the World" is a studio album by American musician Roy Ayers. It was released in 1981 through Polydor Records. Recording sessions for the album took place at Artisian Sound Recording Studio in Hollywood, California and Sigma Sound Studios in New York City. The album is dedicated to Fela Kuti and Bob Marley.

Mystic Voyage is a 1975 album by Roy Ayers Ubiquity, a groundbreaking jazz and funk group led by legendary vibraphonist and composer Roy Ayers. The album is considered one of Ayers' finest works and a pivotal release in the genre of jazz-funk, which blends the rhythmic and improvisational elements of jazz with the danceable grooves of funk.

One of Roy Ayers' best-remembered albums of the 70s – a sublime blend of mellow numbers and some of his more club-oriented grooves of the time – all wrapped together with a genius that we can only describe as Ayers-like! The album's a beautiful example of the balance that Roy was striking in his work at the time – because alongside some of the more upbeat, catchy numbers, there's other tracks that are a fair bit more laidback, and almost abstract at times – a wonderful extrapolation of that sensitive Ayers blend of jazz and soul, with key emphasis on the vibes and keyboards. Titles include the massive groover "Running Away" – which you'll recognize from a key sample history over the years – and club cuts "Cincinnati Growl", "Fruit", "Sanctified Feeling", and "Stranded In The Jungle" – plus the more laidback cuts "Gotta Find A Lover", "I Still Love You", "Lifeline", and "This Side Of Sunshine". The CD comes with extra bonus with the 12" version of "Running Away".