Roy Ayers
Encyclopedia
Roy Ayers is an American funk
, soul
, and jazz
composer and vibraphone
player. Ayers began his career as a post-bop
jazz artist, releasing several albums with Atlantic Records
, before his tenure at Polydor Records
beginning in the 1970s, during which he helped pioneer jazz-funk
.
, California
and grew up in a musical family. At the age of five, Lionel Hampton
gave him his first pair of mallet
s, which led to the vibraphone
being his trademark
sound for decades. The area of Los Angeles that Ayers grew up in, now known as "South Central
", but then known as "South Park
", was the epicenter of the Southern California
Black Music
Scene. The schools Roy attended (Wadsworth Elementary, Nevins Middle School, and Thomas Jefferson High School
) were all close to the famed Central Avenue
, Los Angeles' equivalent of Harlem
's Lenox Avenue and Chicago
's State Street
. Roy would likely have been exposed to music as it not only emanated from the many nightclubs and bars in the area, but also poured out of many of the homes where the musicians who kept the scene alive lived in and around Central. His high school, Thomas Jefferson High School
, from which Ayers graduated, produced some of the most talented new musicians, such as Dexter Gordon
.
Ayers was responsible for the highly regarded soundtrack to Jack Hill
's 1973 blaxploitation
film Coffy
, which starred Pam Grier
. He later moved from a jazz-funk sound to R&B, as seen on Mystic Voyage, which featured the songs "Evolution" and the underground disco hit "Brother Green (The Disco King)", as well as the title track from his 1976 album Everybody Loves the Sunshine
.
In 1977, Ayers produced an album by the group RAMP
, Come Into Knowledge, commonly and mistakenly thought to stand for "Roy Ayers Music Project". That Fall, he had his biggest hit with "Running Away".
In 1980, Ayers released Music Of Many Colors with the Nigeria
n Afrobeat
pioneer
Fela Kuti
.
In 1981, Ayers produced an album with the singer Sylvia Striplin
, Give Me Your Love
(Uno Melodic Records 1981).
In the 1990s, Ayers released several albums for the hip hop
label Ichiban Records
.
In 1994, Ayers appeared on the Red Hot Organization
's compilation album, Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool. The album, meant to raise awareness and funds in support of the AIDS epidemic in relation to the African American community, was heralded as "Album of the Year" by Time Magazine.
During the 2000s and 2010s, Ayers ventured into house music
, collaborating with such stalwarts of the genre as Masters at Work
and Kerri Chandler
.
Ayers has founded two record labels, Uno Melodic and Gold Mink Records. The first released several LPs, including Sylvia Striplin's, while the second folded after a few singles.
Ayers as not only an accomplished musician but also a well-known entertainer on the music scene. He often performs with music and comedic speech/storyline interaction to his audience to enhance his appeal. One of his most popular is a track taken from the LP 'In the Dark' released in 1984 called 'Poo Poo La La'. This has now become a standard favourite amongst his audiences.
Currently, there is a documentary in progress called the Roy Ayers Project featuring Roy Ayers, as well as many Hip Hop producers who have sampled his music and other people who have been influenced by him and his music. The documentary is planned to be released in early 2012.
video game soundtrack, on the fictitious radio station Bounce FM.
Roy Ayers' song "Funk In The Hole" appears in Grand Theft Auto IV
video game on the ficitious radio station Fusion FM. He's also the radio host of this station. "Everybody Loves The Sunshine" appears in GTA Vice City Stories soundtrack.
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
composer and vibraphone
Vibraphone
The vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family....
player. Ayers began his career as a post-bop
Post-bop
Post-bop is a term for a form of small-combo jazz music that evolved in the early-to-mid sixties. The genre's origins lie in seminal work by John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Charles Mingus, Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock...
jazz artist, releasing several albums with Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
, before his tenure at Polydor Records
Polydor Records
Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
beginning in the 1970s, during which he helped pioneer jazz-funk
Jazz-funk
Jazz-funk is a sub-genre of jazz music characterized by a strong back beat , electrified sounds, and often, the presence of the first electronic analog synthesizers...
.
Biography
Ayers was born in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and grew up in a musical family. At the age of five, Lionel Hampton
Lionel Hampton
Lionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first jazz vibraphone players. Hampton ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy...
gave him his first pair of mallet
Mallet
A mallet is a kind of hammer, usually of rubber,or sometimes wood smaller than a maul or beetle and usually with a relatively large head.-Tools:Tool mallets come in different types, the most common of which are:...
s, which led to the vibraphone
Vibraphone
The vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family....
being his trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
sound for decades. The area of Los Angeles that Ayers grew up in, now known as "South Central
South Los Angeles
South Los Angeles, often abbreviated as South L.A. and formerly South Central Los Angeles, is the official name for a large geographic and cultural portion lying to the southwest and southeast of downtown Los Angeles, California. The area was formerly called South Central, and is still widely known...
", but then known as "South Park
South Park, Los Angeles, California
South Park is a district in central Los Angeles, California, originally located around South Park near the intersection of 51st Street and Avalon Boulevard in South Central Los Angeles. However, due to redevelopment and gentrification since 2003, the name has been co-opted and now refers to an area...
", was the epicenter of the Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
Black Music
Black music
Black music is a term encompassing music produced or inspired by black people. In the 20th century, this term has come to usually refer to the many music genres of African American music, especially in the United States and Brazil.-See also:* African music...
Scene. The schools Roy attended (Wadsworth Elementary, Nevins Middle School, and Thomas Jefferson High School
Thomas Jefferson High School
Thomas Jefferson High School may refer to high schools in the United States:*Thomas Jefferson High School *Bloomington Jefferson High School*Thomas Jefferson High School...
) were all close to the famed Central Avenue
Central Avenue (Los Angeles)
Central Avenue is a major north-south thoroughfare in the central portion of the Los Angeles, California metropolitan area. Located just to the west of the Alameda Corridor, it runs from the eastern end of the Los Angeles Civic Center south, ending at Del Amo Boulevard in Carson...
, Los Angeles' equivalent of Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
's Lenox Avenue and Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
's State Street
State Street (Chicago)
State Street is a large south-north street in Chicago, Illinois, USA and its south suburbs. It begins on the Near North Side at North Avenue. For much of its course, it lies between Wabash Avenue on the east and Dearborn Street/Lafayette Avenue on the west...
. Roy would likely have been exposed to music as it not only emanated from the many nightclubs and bars in the area, but also poured out of many of the homes where the musicians who kept the scene alive lived in and around Central. His high school, Thomas Jefferson High School
Thomas Jefferson High School
Thomas Jefferson High School may refer to high schools in the United States:*Thomas Jefferson High School *Bloomington Jefferson High School*Thomas Jefferson High School...
, from which Ayers graduated, produced some of the most talented new musicians, such as Dexter Gordon
Dexter Gordon
Dexter Gordon was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and an Academy Award-nominated actor . He is regarded as one of the first and most important musicians to adapt the bebop musical language of people like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bud Powell to the tenor saxophone...
.
Ayers was responsible for the highly regarded soundtrack to Jack Hill
Jack Hill
Jack Hill is an U.S. film director, noted for his work in the exploitation film genre. Despite this, several of Hill's later films have been characterized as feminist works.Hill was born in Los Angeles...
's 1973 blaxploitation
Blaxploitation
Blaxploitation or blacksploitation is a film genre which emerged in the United States circa 1970. It is considered an ethnic sub-genre of the general category of exploitation films. Blaxploitation films were originally made specifically for an urban black audience, although the genre's audience...
film Coffy
Coffy
- Track listing :# "Coffy Is The Color" - 3:03Vocals – Dee Dee Bridgewater, Roy Ayers, Wayne Garfield# "Priscilla's Theme" - 3:58# "King George" - 3:00Vocals – Roy Ayers# "Aragon" - 2:55# "Coffy Sauna" - 2:16# "King's Last Ride" - 1:10# "Coffy Baby" - 2:26...
, which starred Pam Grier
Pam Grier
Pamela Suzette "Pam" Grier is an American actress. She became famous in the early 1970s, after starring in a string of moderately successful women in prison and blaxploitation films such as 1974's Foxy Brown. Her career was revitalized in 1997 after her appearance in Quentin Tarantino's film...
. He later moved from a jazz-funk sound to R&B, as seen on Mystic Voyage, which featured the songs "Evolution" and the underground disco hit "Brother Green (The Disco King)", as well as the title track from his 1976 album Everybody Loves the Sunshine
Everybody Loves the Sunshine
-Track listing:#Hey, Uh, What You Say Come On - 3:45#Golden Rod - 3:03#Keep On Walking - 3:45#You And Me My Love - 3:11#Third Eye - 6:21...
.
In 1977, Ayers produced an album by the group RAMP
RAMP
RAMP was an American soul/jazz band from Cincinnati, Ohio. RAMP has mistakenly been said to stand for "Roy Ayers Music Production" and "Roy Ayers Music Project", but Ayers was not a member, though he did write and produce songs on their debut album....
, Come Into Knowledge, commonly and mistakenly thought to stand for "Roy Ayers Music Project". That Fall, he had his biggest hit with "Running Away".
In 1980, Ayers released Music Of Many Colors with the Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
n Afrobeat
Afrobeat
Afrobeat is a combination of traditional Yoruba music, jazz, highlife, funk and chanted vocals, fused with percussion and vocal styles, popularised in Africa in the 1970s. Its main creator was the Nigerian multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Fela Kuti, who gave it its name, who used it to...
pioneer
Innovator
An innovator in a general sense, is a person or an organization who is one of the first to introduce into reality something better than before. That often opens up a new area for others and achieves an innovation.-History:...
Fela Kuti
Fela Kuti
Fela Anikulapo Kuti , or simply Fela , was a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, pioneer of Afrobeat music, human rights activist, and political maverick.-Biography:...
.
In 1981, Ayers produced an album with the singer Sylvia Striplin
Sylvia Striplin
Sylvia Striplin is a New York based jazz, soul and R&B vocalist. Striplin has worked with funk, jazz, R&B and soul, vibraphonist Roy Ayers, who helped her release her 1981 album Give Me Your Love on the Uno Melodic record label. Striplin, along with Marva Hicks found some solo success after being...
, Give Me Your Love
Give Me Your Love (album)
-Reception:Released on Roy Ayers's Uno Melodic record label in 1981. While it didn't make a dent on the R&B charts, over time it has eventually became rare groove favorite. Led by the often sampled classic song "You Can't Turn Me Away" which was sampled by the The Notorious B.I.G. mentored group,...
(Uno Melodic Records 1981).
In the 1990s, Ayers released several albums for the hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
label Ichiban Records
Ichiban Records
Ichiban Records was a hip hop record label founded in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1985. Wrap Records and Nastymix Records were some of its subsidiary labels. Urgent! Records was distributed by Ichiban. Most of its discography is now out of print. Besides hip hop groups, Ichiban also released albums by...
.
In 1994, Ayers appeared on the Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization is a not-for-profit, 501 3, international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture.Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors have contributed to over 15 compilation albums, related television programs and media events to raise...
's compilation album, Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool. The album, meant to raise awareness and funds in support of the AIDS epidemic in relation to the African American community, was heralded as "Album of the Year" by Time Magazine.
During the 2000s and 2010s, Ayers ventured into house music
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
, collaborating with such stalwarts of the genre as Masters at Work
Masters At Work
Masters at Work is the house/garage production and remix team of "Little" Louie Vega and Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez. They first worked together using the name, which had been given to them by mutual friend Todd Terry , in 1990...
and Kerri Chandler
Kerri Chandler
Kerri 'Kaoz' Chandler, one of deep House Music's originators, has been injecting soul into music since the early nineties. An ambassador of the 4/4 beat, Kerri's influences can be traced back to New Jersey growing up in a family of jazz musicians. His father being a deejay, provided Kerri with a...
.
Ayers has founded two record labels, Uno Melodic and Gold Mink Records. The first released several LPs, including Sylvia Striplin's, while the second folded after a few singles.
Ayers as not only an accomplished musician but also a well-known entertainer on the music scene. He often performs with music and comedic speech/storyline interaction to his audience to enhance his appeal. One of his most popular is a track taken from the LP 'In the Dark' released in 1984 called 'Poo Poo La La'. This has now become a standard favourite amongst his audiences.
Currently, there is a documentary in progress called the Roy Ayers Project featuring Roy Ayers, as well as many Hip Hop producers who have sampled his music and other people who have been influenced by him and his music. The documentary is planned to be released in early 2012.
Appearances in other media
Roy Ayers' song "Running Away" appears in the Grand Theft Auto: San AndreasGrand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a 2004 open world action video game developed by British games developer Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the third 3D game in the Grand Theft Auto video game franchise, the fifth original console release and eighth game overall...
video game soundtrack, on the fictitious radio station Bounce FM.
Roy Ayers' song "Funk In The Hole" appears in Grand Theft Auto IV
Grand Theft Auto IV
Grand Theft Auto IV is a 2008 open world action video game published by Rockstar Games, and developed by British games developer Rockstar North. It has been released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game consoles, and for the Windows operating system...
video game on the ficitious radio station Fusion FM. He's also the radio host of this station. "Everybody Loves The Sunshine" appears in GTA Vice City Stories soundtrack.
Selected discography
- West Coast Vibes (United Artists) – 1963
- Virgo Vibes (AtlanticAtlantic RecordsAtlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
) – 1967 - Daddy Bug & Friends (Atlantic) – 1967
- Stoned Soul Picnic (32 Jazz) – 1968
- Daddy’s Back (AtcoAtco RecordsATCO Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, currently operating through WMG's Rhino Entertainment.-Beginnings:Atco Records was founded in 1955 as a division of Atlantic Records. It was devised as an outlet for productions by one of Atlantic's founders, Herb Abramson, who...
) – 1969 - He’s Coming (PolydorPolydor RecordsPolydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
) – 1971 - Ubiquity (Polydor) – 1971
- Live At The Montreux Jazz Festival (VerveVerve RecordsVerve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
) – 1972 - Red, Black And Green (Polydor) – 1973
- Coffy (soundtrack)Coffy- Track listing :# "Coffy Is The Color" - 3:03Vocals – Dee Dee Bridgewater, Roy Ayers, Wayne Garfield# "Priscilla's Theme" - 3:58# "King George" - 3:00Vocals – Roy Ayers# "Aragon" - 2:55# "Coffy Sauna" - 2:16# "King's Last Ride" - 1:10# "Coffy Baby" - 2:26...
(Polydor) - 1973 - Virgo Red (Polydor) – 1973
- Change Up The Groove (Polydor) – 1974
- A Tear To A Smile (Polydor) – 1975
- Mystic Voyage (Polydor) – 1975
- Everybody Loves the SunshineEverybody Loves the Sunshine-Track listing:#Hey, Uh, What You Say Come On - 3:45#Golden Rod - 3:03#Keep On Walking - 3:45#You And Me My Love - 3:11#Third Eye - 6:21...
(Polydor) - 1976 - VibrationsVibrations (Roy Ayers album)-Track listing:#Domelo - 4:00 #Baby I Need Your Love - 2:30 #Higher - 4:02 #The Memory - 4:31...
(Polydor) – 1976 - Crystal Reflections (MuseMuse RecordsMuse Records was an American record label which released jazz and blues music.Muse was founded in the early 1970s by Joe Fields, who had previously worked as an executive for Prestige Records in the 1960s...
) – 1977 - Lifeline (Polydor) – 1977
- Let's Do It (Polydor) – 1978
- Step Into Our Life (Polydor) – 1978
- You Send Me (Polydor) – 1978
- Fever (Polydor) – 1979
- Love Fantasy (Polydor) – 1980
- No Stranger To Love (Polydor) – 1980
- Prime Time (Polydor) – 1980
- Music Of Many Colors (With Fela KutiFela KutiFela Anikulapo Kuti , or simply Fela , was a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, pioneer of Afrobeat music, human rights activist, and political maverick.-Biography:...
) (Celluloid) – 1980 - Africa, Center Of The World (Polydor) – 1981
- Feelin’ Good (Polydor) – 1981
- In The Dark (ColumbiaColumbia RecordsColumbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
) – 1984 - Goree Island – 1984
- In the Dark – 1984
- Poo PooLa La – 1984
- You Might Be Surprised (Columbia) – 1985
- I’m The One (For Your Love Tonight) (Columbia) – 1987
- Searchin’ (Live) (Ronnie Scott's Jazz HouseRonnie ScottRonnie Scott was an English jazz tenor saxophonist and jazz club owner.-Life and career:Ronnie Scott was born in Aldgate, east London, into a family of Russian Jewish descent on his father's side, and Portuguese antecedents on his mother's. Scott began playing in small jazz clubs at the age of...
) – 1991 - Drive (IchibanIchiban RecordsIchiban Records was a hip hop record label founded in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1985. Wrap Records and Nastymix Records were some of its subsidiary labels. Urgent! Records was distributed by Ichiban. Most of its discography is now out of print. Besides hip hop groups, Ichiban also released albums by...
) – 1992 - Wake Up (Ichiban) – 1992
- Double Trouble (With Rick JamesRick JamesJames Ambrose Johnson, Jr. , better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. James was a popular performer in the late 1970s and 1980s, scoring four number-one hits on the U.S. R&B charts performing in the genres of funk and R&B...
) (Uno Melodic) – 1992 - Good Vibrations (Live) (Ronnie Scott's Jazz House) – 1993
- Fast Money (Live At Ronnie Scott’s) (Castle) – 1994
- Vibesman (Live At Ronnie Scott’s) (Music Club) – 1995
- Nasté (Groovetown) – 1995
- Hot (Live At Ronnie Scott’s) (Ronnie Scott's Jazz House) – 1996
- Spoken Word (AFI) – 1998
- Lots Of Love (CharlyCharly RecordsCharly Records is a British record label which specialises in reissued material.-History:Among the labels whose original releases are reissued by Charly are Vee-Jay, Sun, Immediate, BYG, Tomato, and Fania. Charly Records was founded in France in 1974 by Jean-Luc Young, who had been a promoter of...
) – 1998 - Juice (Charly) – 1999
- Live At Ronnie Scott’s (DVD Audio) (Castle) – 2001
- "Our Time is Coming" (single with Masters at WorkMasters At WorkMasters at Work is the house/garage production and remix team of "Little" Louie Vega and Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez. They first worked together using the name, which had been given to them by mutual friend Todd Terry , in 1990...
) (MAW Records)—2001 - For Café Après-midi (Universal JapanUniversal Music GroupUniversal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...
) – 2002 - "Good Vibrations" (single with Kerri ChandlerKerri ChandlerKerri 'Kaoz' Chandler, one of deep House Music's originators, has been injecting soul into music since the early nineties. An ambassador of the 4/4 beat, Kerri's influences can be traced back to New Jersey growing up in a family of jazz musicians. His father being a deejay, provided Kerri with a...
) (Mad House Records)—2003 - Virgin Ubiquity: Unreleased Recordings 1976-1981 (Rapster) – 2004
- Mahogany Vibe (Rapster) – 2004
- Virgin Ubiquity II: Unreleased Recordings 1976-1981 (Rapster) – 2005
- Virgin Ubiquity Remixed (Rapster) – 2006
- Perfection (AimAIM RecordsAIM Records is a Norwegian record company that specializes in acoustic improvised music, both jazz and classical located in Oslo, Norway. They represent many of the new artists who are among the up and coming in the Norwegian music scene and some already well established acts.AIM is also the name...
) – 2006
External links
- Official website of Roy Ayers
- [ Allmusic Guide to Roy Ayers]
- Roy Ayers Project site for Documentary in Progress