Jazz musician Roy Ayers 1940 - 2018
SPlDEY
Vegas 3,375 Posts
Born and raised in South Central Los Angeles, Ayers was known for his brilliant vibraphone work, and soulful ballads. His music sampled by artists such as Pharrell WIlliams, Dr. Dre, DJ Premier, Q-tip, Pete Rock, Madlib, and Kanye West.
He is most notably known for his iconic composition "Everybody Loves The Sunshine" and his 1977 group RAMP (Roy Ayers Music Project). His session work has led him to collaborate with other icons such as Stevie Wonder, Miles Davis, Fela Kuti, Herbie Mann, Erykah Badu and The Roots.
While watching the film Jackie Brown he was surprised to find out they used his music he said, “Oh my god, if they hadn’t done the right thing, I’d sue them!” Quentin Tarantino's company properly licensed the track. An obvious homage to his soundtrack to the blaxploitation classic "Coffy" also starring Pam Grier.
In a music industry filled with such a high turn over rate for pop artists his career stands as a true testament to a humble musician with longevity creating great works of art. Roy Ayers discography includes over 91 albums.
Legendary 77 year old Jazz musician Roy Ayers is still dope and still very much alive.
Comments
Watching the Tiny Desk now. Last time I saw him live was 10 years ago. One of my all time favs!
That NPR thing is
Yes, my heart dropped for a minute. Thanks for sharing the Tiny Desk video though @SPlDEY
It was April Fools day man...
-spidey
First time I've ever seen that MIDI percussion vibes - malletKAT. I guess the unspoken truth is that even when Musicians fall out of the spotlight they never really go away. Might as well appreciate him while we still got him.
- spidey
I had to look up those MIDI vibes also. So cool.
My son channeling Roy
I have no idea how long midi-vibes have been around, but I remember seeing Roy in what I believe was 1992 in my hometown of Hannover, Germany. He either had an electronic vibraphone or some effects panel to channel the sound through. Either the thing was defective or he had never used it before: There was lots of knob turning and button pressing with nothing that sounded like a desired effect but lots of malfunctioning. It really ruined the gig but he already had such a Mr. Nice Guy reputation that he got away with it even though the crowd was edgy. I remember seeing Ronny Jordan at the same venue promoting his Antitude album a few weeks later; hence my believe that it must have been 1992. He played pretty much exactly the album as recorded in the studio and was done in under 50 minutes. The problem was that the crowd like what they had heard and wanted more. It was an old cinema venue and the stage manager pulled the curtain to confirm that there would be no encore: That curtain got drenched in beer and other drinks that flew towards the stage... ;-)
I guess it's easier to lug around than his old Deagan Commander 11594, has a butt-load of tricks and last but not least sounds a bit like real vibes. On these gigs there were no technical issues and a good band, the late Zachary Breaux on guitar is superb.
Roy is such a great showman that it sometimes masks how good he is on the vibes. As the jacket notes say on one of his 80s sets (In The Dark?) "Clown, saint, witch-doctor, historian" - all these things are in his repertoire.
Holler your ultimate Roy Tunes - Sunshine offa RAMP a given, :hard: but who got lovv for "Third Eye' and "Golden Rod" to name but two off the top?
Fire Weaver
Just found a minty copy of A Tear to a Smile for 10$ in Detroit that I'm gonna give to my bro for his Bday. Sooo killer. The man is the man is the man.