Roy Ayers

Vibraphonist Roy Ayers crossed over from jazz to funk and found commercial success in the mid-'70s with what he called "disco jazz." He then was rediscovered in the '90s as one of the precursors of acid-jazz. He learned piano at an early age; at five, his playing impressed Lionel Hampton, who gave him a pair of mallets. Ayers began playing vibes professionally with West Coast bands in the late '50s. In 1965 he formed his own quartet but disbanded it when Herbie Mann invited him to join his band. He recorded and toured with Mann from 1966 to 1970, and Mann produced Ayers' first three solo albums.

Around 1970 Ayers began experimenting with electronics and rock rhythms. He was probably the first vibraphonist to electrify his instrument and certainly the first to employ such devices as the wah-wah pedal and effects like fuzztone. In 1970 he formed the Roy Ayers Ubiquity, a fully electrified ensemble that fused jazz, rock, Latin pop, and R&B. Guest soloists with Ubiquity have included drummer Billy Cobham, flutist Hubert Laws, guitarist George Benson, trombonist Wayne Henderson of the Crusaders, vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater, R&B composer and vocalist Edwin Birdsong, and Nigerian saxophonist Fela Anikulapo Kuti, with whom he toured Nigeria in 1979, resulting in the 1981 LP Africa, Center of the World. His albums from this period earned him a loyal audience among jazz and R&B fans.

Beginning in 1976, Ayers’ records hit the charts after receiving radio and disco play; “Running Away,” which became a dance-club classic, made the R&B Top 20 in 1977. “The Freaky Deaky” inspired a dance step of the same name in 1978. Ayers broke up Ubiquity that year and formed a recording partnership with Henderson on the album Step Into Our Life; they had a minor hit with “Heat of the Beat” (#59 R&B, 1978).

In 1981 Ayers formed his own label, Uno Melodic, to release other artists’ work that he produced. Throughout the next decade Ayers continued to have hits, including “In the Dark” (#35 R&B, 1984), “Slip ’n Slide” (#49 R&B, 1985), and “Hot” (#20 R&B, 1986), and remained popular in Great Britain. In 1987 Ayers recorded with Whitney Houston on her “Love Will Save the Day.”

By the ’90s, Ayers had become a seminal influence on the burgeoning acid-jazz scene, particularly in the U.K. Such hip-hop artists as Big Daddy Kane, A Tribe Called Quest, Brand Nubian, Monie Love, and Mary J. Blige sampled Ayers’ ’70s recordings; his 1976 song “Everybody Loves the Sunshine” was an especially popular sample. This brought him even more visibility, as did his appearance on Jazzmatazz, the hip-hop/jazz project produced by Guru of GangStarr.

from The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Simon & Schuster, 2001)