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| Roy Ayers Ubiquity |
| Roy Ayers was born on September 10, 1940 in Los Angeles. Thanks to his trombone playing father and piano teaching mother, this boy-child became immersed in music from day one. Encouraged by his mother, he took to the piano at the age of five, spinning out boogie-woogie riffs before he could spell his name. Fondly, Roy remembers, "I would write a song and play it and my Mommy would say, 'Oh! It's beautiful, baby, one day your name will be in lights.' That's what gives me my basic outlook, which is a positive one." At six, his parents took him to a Lionel Hampton concert where the living legend laid a pair of his mallets on the youngster. He reached a slow-burning epiphany - Roy wouldn't pick up the vibes until he was 17 - but the die was cast. When he obtained his musician's union card in 1961, the world became his virtual oyster. The L.A. jazz scene at that time was quite active and he took full advantage of the situation. He got involved in the West Coast jazz scene in his early 20's, recording with Curtis Amy (1962), Jack Wilson (1963-67), and the Gerald Wilson Orchestra (1965-66), and playing with Teddy Edwards, Chico Hamilton, Hampton Hawes and Phineas Newborn. A session with Herbie Mann at the Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach led to a four-year gig with the versatile flutist (1966-70), an experience that gave Ayers tremendous exposure and opened his ears to styles of music other than the bebop that he had grown up with. During this period, the vibist recorded on Mann's massive "Memphis Underground" album and released three solo albums on Atlantic Records ("Daddy Bug," "Virgo Red" and "Stoned Soul Picnic," all produced by Mann). In 1970, Roy flew the nest, settled into Manhattan and formed his own band, dubbing it "Ubiquity." An ever-changing eclectic collective of musicians and vocalists, featuring such players as Sonny Fortune, Billy Cobham, Omar Hakim and Alphonse Mouzon. Ubiquity's music could not be pigeonholed. Funk, salsa, jazz, rock, soul, rap, disco - all were equal parts of Ayers' vision and sound. What really tied it all together was the music's embracing of the voice as an integral instrumental component. "I realized the power of the voice - I knew jazz didn't get that much play on the radio. The giants: Wes Montgomery, Cannonball Adderley, Jimmy Smith, gained a lot of recognition even though their music was primarily instrumental - but it was vocal, too. People would respond to voices. I wasn't closed, I was open to it. I had people like Edwin Birdsong, who wrote "Spirit of Doo Doo" - he knew hooks. I had great singers. Dee Dee Bridgewater, Edwin, Carla Vaughan, Chicas..." Roy Ayers and Ubiquity were signed to Polydor that year. Thus began an astonishingly vital and prolific period that would end 12 years later and yield 20 albums. These 12 years helped crystallize Roy's vision of delivering party music with a social conscience and burned his name into the psyches of all those needing an escape from the hell of the seventies, making us sweat and smile every time his music was heard on the radio or in the clubs. In 1977 Roy released "Lifeline." This album would give him his first and most lucrative taste of disco success. The 12" single of "Running Away" has became a prized collector's item. The song with it's memorable "Doobie Do Run Run Run" hook reached the top of the club charts and the following year he repeated that success with his second most popular 12" single, "Freaky Deaky." Until this day, every D.J. of any genre has a few - if not all - of his hits, and when "Everybody Loves The Sunshine" comes on at 3 AM, whether after a hip hop, house or techno set, everyone stays on the dance floor swaying and singing. Roy Ayers delivered us more than hits. He delivered anthems for the times. In the 1980's, besides leading his bands and recording, Ayers collaborated with Nigerian musician Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, formed Uno Melodic Records, and produced and/or co-wrote several recordings for various artists. As the merger of hip-hop and jazz took hold in the early 1990's, Ayers made a guest appearance on Guru's seminal "Jazzmatazz" album in 1993 and played at New York clubs with Guru and Donald Byrd. In America, Roy became a seventies footnote, but the rest of the world was hot on his case. Massive in England, Roy's live act played the world's stages in Japan, Australia and Europe to ever-increasing audiences. Thanks to the emerging worldwide acid jazz movement, and sample-happy hip-hop DJs, Roy Ayers has regained his rightful crown and throne. Though most of his solo records have been out of print for years, Verve has recently issued a two-CD anthology of his work with Ubiquity and the first U.S. release of a live gig at the 1972 Montreux Jazz Festival that finds the group playing excellent straight-ahead jazz, as well as jazz-rock and R&B. Roy is alive and well and touring the world. |
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