Roy Ayers - Everybody Loves the Sunshine 1976 (Super Deluxe Edition 2016)
Label: U-5 | MP3 320 kbps CBR | 49:21 min | 117 mb
Soul, Funk, Jazz Funk, Smooth Jazz
By 1976, vibraphone legend Roy Ayers and his group Ubiquity’s music had become dirtier, funkier, and more repetitive. Yet it was still in turns mellow and soothing. The outfit were square pegs that refused to fit in any holes that suggested straightforward jazz, soul or disco. Unbelievably, Everybody Loves the Sunshine was Roy Ayers’ 14th album, but it was the one that really struck a chord in the UK. Much of this was to do with its title-track, a woozy, off-kilter tribute to the summer. Piano dribbles out over lazy ARP synthesiser flourishes. As the tempo seems as enervated as the sweltering day the song describes, Ubiquity’s massed vocals joyously state the obvious: “Folks get down in the sunshine / Folks get brown in the sunshine / Everybody loves the sunshine.” Few records make you feel so pleasantly exhausted. The more conventional ballad Keep on Walking follows a similar groove; it can be seen as a direct influence on British funk ensembles such as Light of the World.