He got involved in the West Coast jazz scene in his early twenties, recording with Curtis Amy (1962), Jack Wilson (1963 to 1967), and the Gerald Wilson Orchestra (1965 to 1966), and playing with Teddy Edwards, Chico Hamilton, Hampton Hawes, and Phineas Newborn. Growing up in a musical family - his father played trombone, his mother taught him the piano - the five-year-old Ayers was given a set of vibe mallets by Lionel Hampton, but didn't start on the instrument until he was 17. His own reaction to being canonized by the hip-hop crowd is tempered with the detachment of a survivor in a rough business. Yet Ayers' own playing has always been rooted in hard bop it's crisp, lyrical, and rhythmically resilient. A tune like 1972's 'Move to Groove' has a crackling backbeat that serves as the prototype for the shuffling hip-hop groove that became almost ubiquitous on acid jazz records, and his relaxed 1976 song 'Everybody Loves the Sunshine' has been frequently sampled.

After going solo in the early 1970's he has released over 30 albums, composed the soundtrack for 'Coffy', a 1973 Blaxploitation film starring Pam Grier, toured and recorded with Fela Kuti, produced and released artists such as RAMP, Sylvia Striplin, Bobbi Humphrey, Eighties Ladies and is cited as a major influence by Pharrell Williams and Erykah Badu.One of the most visible and winning vibraphonists since the 1960s, Roy Ayers' reputation is that of one of the prophets of jazz-funk and acid jazz, a man decades ahead of his time. Roy Ayers started his career in the 1960's joining the touring band of Herbie Mann.

'Evolution' was a dancefloor filler at clubs such as Dingwalls and 'Life is Just a Moment (Part 2)' has been sampled by The Jungle Brothers, Outlaw Posse, Fila Brazilia and more. The opening song from the album 'Brother Green (The Disco King)' was a huge tune in the Rare Groove clubs of the 1980's. Recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York, 'Mystic Voyage' has been sampled countless times in Hip Hop over the years and was one of the foundations of the burgeoning Jazz-Funk scene which developed in the mid to late 1970's. Roy Ayers Ubiquity celebrate the 45th anniversary of their seminal 1975 album 'Mystic Voyage'. + DJ Simon Hodge (The Craig Charles Funk & Soul Show)

Listed Under Music Events / Nights Out Events

Roy ayers ubiquity album