born September 10, 1940, Los Angeles
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Vibraphonist/vocalist Roy Ayers is among the best-known, most-loved and respected jazz/R&B artists on the music-scene today. Now in his fourth decade in the music business, Ayers, known as the Godfather of Neo-soul, continues to bridge the gap between generations of music lovers. In the ’60s he was an award-winning jazz vibraphonist, and transformed into a popular R&B bandleader in the ’70s/’80s. Today, the dynamic music man is an iconic figure still in great demand and whose music has been sampled by music industry heavyweights, including Mary J. Blige, Erykah Badu, 50 Cent, A Tribe Called Quest, Tupac, and Ice Cube.
Ayers recently recorded with hip-hop artist Talib Kweli (produced by Kanye West) and jazz/R&B singer Will Downing. Many of Ayers’ songs including “Everybody Loves the Sunshine,”, “Searchin”, “Running Away” have been frequently sampled and remixed by DJ’s worldwide.
One of the most visible and winning jazz vibraphonists of the 1960s, then an R&B bandleader in the 1970s and '80s, Roy Ayers' reputation s now that of one of the prophets of acid jazz, a man decades ahead of his time. A tune like 1972's "Move to Groove" by the Roy Ayers Ubiquity has a crackling backbeat that serves as the prototype for the shuffling hip-hop groove that became, shall we say, ubiquitous on acid jazz records; and his relaxed 1976 song "Everybody Loves the Sunshine" has been frequently sampled. Yet Ayers' own playing has always been rooted in hard bop: crisp, lyrical, rhythmically resilient. His own reaction to being canonized by the hip-hop crowd as the "Icon Man" is tempered with the detachment of a survivor in a rough business. "I'm having fun laughing with it," he has said. "I don't mind what they call me, that's what people do in this industry."
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. He got involved in the West Coast jazz scene in his early 20s, recording with Curtis Amy (1962), Jack Wilson (1963-1967), and the Gerald Wilson Orchestra (1965-1966); 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 (1966-1970), 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.
After being featured prominently on Mann's hit Memphis Underground album and recording three solo albums for Atlantic under Mann's supervision, Ayers left the group in 1970 to form the Roy Ayers Ubiquity, which recorded several albums for Polydor and featured such players as Sonny Fortune, Billy Cobham, Omar Hakim, and Alphonse Mouzon. An R&B-jazz-rock band influenced by electric Miles Davis and the Herbie Hancock Sextet at first, the Ubiquity gradually shed its jazz component in favor of R&B/funk and disco.
In the 1980s, 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 '90s, Ayers made a guest appearance on Guru's seminal Jazzmatazz album in 1993 and played at New York clubs with Guru and Donald Byrd.
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EPs
VIDEO
COMPILATIONS
PRODUCTION - ALBUMS
PRODUCTION - SINGLES
MISCELLANEOUS
ALBUMS
- West Coast Vibes (United Artists 1964) / alternate
- Virgo Vibes (Atlantic 1967) Pt. 1 / Pt. 2
- Daddy Bug (1967) / alternate
- Stoned Soul Picnic (Atlantic 1968) / alternate / FLAC
- Daddy's Back (Atlantic 1969)
- Ubiquity (Polydor 1970) / FLAC
- He's Coming (Polydor 1971) / alternate / FLAC
- Live At Montreux (Polydor 1972) / alternate
- Red, Black And Green (Polydor 1973) / alternate
- Coffy (1973) / or WAV version
- Virgo Red (1974) / FLAC
- Change Up The Groove (Polydor 1974) / alternate
- A Tear To A Smile (Polydor 1975) / alternate
- Mystic Voyage (Polydor 1976) / alternate / alternate
- Everybody Loves The Sunshine (Polydor 1976) / alternate
- Vibrations (Polydor 1976) / alternate
- Lifeline (Polydor 1977) / alternate
- Starbooty (Polydor 1978) / alternate (320)
- Let's Do It (Polydor 1978)
- You Send Me (Polydor 1978) / alternate
- Step Into Our Life (Polydor 1978) / alternate
- Fever (Polydor 1979) / alternate
- No Stranger To Love (Polydor 1979) / alternate
- Love Fantasy (Polydor 1980)
- Prime Time (Polydor 1980) / alternate
- Africa, Center Of The World (Polydor 1981) / alternate
- Music of Many Colours w/ Fela Kuti (1980) / alternate
- Feelin' Good (Polydor 1982) / alternate
- Drivin' On Up (Polydor 1983)
- "Lots of Love" (1983) - re-released as "Drive", see below
- Silver Vibrations (Polydor 1983) / alternate
- In The Dark (Columbia 1984) / alternate
- You Might Be Surprised (Columbia 1985)
- I'm the One (for your love tonight) (Columbia 1987) FLAC / alternate
- Drive (Ichiban 1988) aka "Lots of Love" (1983) / alternate
- Wake Up (Ichiban 1989) / from redredred
- Easy Money: Live At Ronnie Scott's (Essential 1990)
- Rare (Polydor 1990)
- Rare Vol II (Polydor 1990)
- Searchin' (Ronnie Scott's Jazz House 1993)
- Hot (Ronnie Scott's Jazz House 1993) at Funky Disposition
- Good Vibrations (live) (1993)
- Nasté (Groovetown 1995) / alternate
- "Spoken Word" (with Bonita Brisker) (1998)
- Live at Ronnie Scott's (1998) - FLAC
- Smooth Jazz (Groovetown 1999)
- Perfection (2001) from redredred / or alternate rapidshare
- Vibesman - Live at Ronnie Scotts (2000-2003) FLAC
- Mahogany Vibe (2003)
- Virgin Ubiquity 1 : unreleased recordings 1976-81 / alternate / alternate
- Virgin Ubiquity 2 : unreleased recordings 1976-81/ alternate
- Virgin Ubiquity Remixed
- Live at Arturo's (2008)
EPs
- "All Blues" / "If I were a Carpenter" - Roy Ayers Quartet (60s, Denon)
- "Comin' Home Baby" 4 track EP (rec. 1968, released 1976)
- Live at New Morning (2004) - 8 rar files
COMPILATIONS
- Evolution - The Polydor Anthology (2 Cds) Comprehensive 2 CD collection / alternate / FLAC
- A Shining Symbol : The Ultimate Collection" / alternate Good comp, mainly 70s material
- My Vibes (80s-90s comp) includes all of "Lots Of Love / "Drive" and others
PRODUCTION - ALBUMS
- RAMP - "Come Into Knowledge" (1977)
- Sylvia Striplin - "Give Me Your Love" (1980) at funk my soul
- Eighties Ladies - "Ladies of the 80s" (1980) donated by Nikos / alt
- Justo Almario - "Interlude" (1981) / alternate (better quality)
- "The Uno Melodic Story" - comp. of Ayers productions
PRODUCTION - SINGLES
- Jaymz Bedford - "Just Keep My Boogie" (1981)
- Ethel Beatty - "I Know You Care"/ "It's Your Love"
- Eighties Ladies - "Turned On To You" (1980) - direct download
- Rick Holmes - "Remember to Remember" (1981)
MISCELLANEOUS
- "Love Not Truth" - Post Modern Jazz feat. Roy Ayers (2005) Ayers - vibes on 6 tracks, and vocals on 3
- "Ramblin" - Jack Wilson Quartet featuring Roy Ayers (1966)
- "Lonely Avenue" - David 'Fathead' Newman ft Roy Ayers (1971)
- "Magic Touch" - Loose Ends ft. Roy Ayers (1985) - single
- Roy Ayers Samples Mix - mix of hiphop tracks with Roy Ayers samples.
- DJ Muro- "The Vibe Obsession" - DJ mix, see link for details
92 comments:
Exellent!!! Last week I was at his concert here in Moscow... What to tell... He is one of the greatest vibraphonists and showmen!!!
No Stranger To Love (Polydor 1979)
http://www.zshare.net/download/2033779041193b07/
Africa, Center Of The World (Polydor 1981)
http://www.zshare.net/download/20338521775ba353/
Coffy - 1973
http://www.zshare.net/download/20341645f27f6aaa/
Drive (Ichiban 1988)
http://www.zshare.net/download/20342427adc25478/
Fever (Polydor 1979)
http://www.zshare.net/download/20381652f1c97d69/
He's Coming (Polydor 1971)
http://www.zshare.net/download/203843349835f89e/
Ubiquity (Polydor 1970)
http://www.zshare.net/download/2041691742439c8e/
Red, Black And Green - 1976
http://www.zshare.net/download/2041728270e50f2a/
1973 - Virgo Red
http://www.zshare.net/download/204185155d987b4d/
Change Up The Groove (Polydor 1974)
http://rapidshare.com/files/153298024/74_-_CUTG.rar
A Tear To A Smile (Polydor 1975)
http://rapidshare.com/files/153302354/75_-_ATS.rar
Mystic Voyage (Polydor 1976)
http://rapidshare.com/files/153309643/75_-_MV.rar
West Coast Vibes (United Artists 1964)
http://rapidshare.com/files/153315324/63_-_WCV.rar
Lifeline (Polydor 1977)
http://rapidshare.com/files/153323975/77_-_L.rar
Starbooty (Polydor 1978)
http://rapidshare.com/files/153331626/78_-_S.rar
thanks Zand, I am linking as you post
You Send Me (Polydor 1978)
http://rapidshare.com/files/153345095/78_-_YSM.rar
Step Into Our Life (Polydor 1978)
http://rapidshare.com/files/153364733/78_-_SIOL.rar
That's all for today. I'll try to continue tomorrow.
thanks for all the work brotha!
;-)
Look for this albums:
1967 - Virgo Vibes
1969 -Daddy's Back
1991 - Searchin'
1992 - Wake Up
1993 - Good Vibrations
1994 - Fast Money
1995 - Vibesman
1998 - Spoken Word
2001 - Live at Ronnie Scott's
I'll upload all other.
Live At Montreux (Polydor 1972)
http://www.zshare.net/download/20458489e3d8e53d/
Love Fantasy (Polydor 1980)
http://rapidshare.com/files/153508602/80_-_LF.rar
Prime Time (Polydor 1980)
http://rapidshare.com/files/153509284/80_-_PT.rar
Feeling Good (Polydor 1982)
http://rapidshare.com/files/153514560/82_-_FG.rar
Silver Vibrations (Polydor 1983)
http://rapidshare.com/files/153517719/83_-_SV.rar
In The Dark (Columbia 1984)
http://rapidshare.com/files/153523189/84_-_ITD.rar
You Might Be Surprised (Columbia 1985)
http://rapidshare.com/files/153523819/85_-_YMBS.rar
I'm The One (For Your Love Tonight) (Columbia 1987)
http://rapidshare.com/files/153542242/87_-_ITO.rar
Nasté (Groovetown 1995)
http://rapidshare.com/files/153544336/95_-_N.rar
Wow Zand,
you have done one hell of a job with this. Thanks. Let me know if there is another artist. What about Barry White next?
Let's finish this discography and we'll see later :-)
Virgo Vibes (Atlantic 1967)
http://www.zshare.net/download/204882788a3040cc/
Hello, could you please let me know where can I find the James Brown - I Got You of 1966 ? The link in the blog is dead. Thank you ! Greetings from Brasil. Elias
What a fantastic list. Thanks folks!
Wow, just saw this one. GREAT job Selfscience and Zand!
i'm seeing him live in 2 weeks time and am very excited about it.
Anyway, I've linked up "Mahoghany Vibe", will search out more soon.
Simon
Added :
Virgin Ubiquity 1 : unreleased recordings 1976-81
Virgin Ubiquity 2 : unreleased recordings 1976-81
... and finally, added a few alternate links, plus a note that "Lots of Love" (1983) was later re-released as "Drive".
Self-Sci & Zand, this is totally bananas! I dont know if you could come up with a better discography. Great job!!! One ? for you guys. I know Roy Ayers has done many albums as you have so graciously posted, but do you know of any artist he has produced for other that Ramp and Sylvia Striplin? Any help would be greatly apperciated.. By the way, get some rest you guys have pretty busy. Thanks again!!!!!
hi selfscience and zand -
Bad news! All the zshare links are dead, i.e. :
Virgo Vibes (Atlantic 1967)
Ubiquity (Polydor 1970)
He's Coming (Polydor 1971)
Live At Montreux (Polydor 1972)
Red, Black And Green (Polydor 1973)
Coffy (1973)
Virgo Red (Polydor 1974)
Fever (Polydor 1979)
No Stranger To Love (Polydor 1979)
Drive (Ichiban 1988)
... and good news, they're all back again?!?! weird. 5 mins ago they were "404 file not found" .... anyway good that they're back, i hope they stay..
naw, the Z-share links has been acting real funny. I haven't been able to download any of them.
hmm yeah, they're doing that thing where they count down, then return to the original page - Zshare has been buggy for a week now, hope they sort it ...
OK I've done some work here :
Added alternate blog links for these Zshare ones :
He's Coming (Polydor 1971)
Live At Montreux (Polydor 1972)
Red, Black And Green (Polydor 1973)
Coffy (1973)
Virgo Red (Polydor 1974)
Fever (Polydor 1979)
No Stranger To Love (Polydor 1979)
Drive (Ichiban 1988)
Also added alternate links for :
Daddy bug
Vibrations
Everybody Loves the Sunshine
Tear to a Smile
Step Into Our Life
Virgin Ubiquity 1 : unreleased recordings 1976-81
In The Dark (Columbia 1984)
You Might Be Surprised (Columbia 1985)
Prime Time (Polydor 1980)
Added a new album link to main list :
"Spoken Word" (with Bonita Brisker) (1998)
Added new miscellaneous section :
MISCELLANEOUS
"Love Not Truth" - Post Modern Jazz feat. Roy Ayers (2005)
Ayers - vibes on 6 tracks, vocals on 3
Added two new compilations :
My Vibes (80s-90s comp)
includes all of "Lots Of Love / "Drive" and others
Evolution - The Polydor Anthology (2 Cds)
Comprehensive 2 CD collection
From the Zshare links, the ones I could NOT find alternatives for were :
Virgo Vibes
Ubiquity
... so if anyone could up those, we'll be back where we were.
Hi guys,
I just posted "Coffy" at my blog with WAV and MP3 versions available.
Another update -
added some Ayers productions, albums and singles - couldn't find a copy of the "Eighties Ladies" album anywhere though - anyone got it ?
I saw Roy Ayers play last night and he was fantastic. I was five feet away from him and danced for two hours, great show.
just added "Live at New Morning" (2004) - check the link, not sure if this is video or audio? Has 8 rapidshare downloads.
It's video!
thanks Zand, i've put it in a separate video category now.
I just added "Live at Arturo's", check it out ...
Added :
New link for :
Ubiquity (Polydor 1970)
(was a dead Zshare one)
Link for :
Africa, Center Of The World (Polydor 1981)
(there you go Trakbuv!)
Added to Miscellaneous :
"Ramblin" - Jack Wilson Quartet featuring Roy Ayers (1966)
Added a link for :
Hot (Ronnie Scott's Jazz House 1993)
.. .and new links for "Virgo Vibes"
.. added some alternate links
I have uploaded the 2006 reissue of the 2001 album, Perfection. Enjoy!!!
http://www.zshare.net/download/512717189d05840a/
Big thanks for that redredred!
I've linked it up in the list.
You guys know some good music!!! Thanks.
Here is Wake Up
http://www.zshare.net/download/5188828433eef078/
Enjoy!
redredredred
Hi redredred -
Thanks very much for your upload, but I din't think Zshare works any more. I have not been able to download anything from there for at least a month.
If at all possible, could you possibly re-up to Mediafire or Rapidshare ? I'm sure people would appreciate this a lot.
Try this...
http://rapidshare.com/files/168457128/Roy_Ayers_-_Wake_Up.rar.html
Big thanks redredred, have linked it up :)
If you had a chance at some stage to re-up "Perfection", I'm sure folks would appreciate it.
So here is Perfection again:
http://rapidshare.com/files/170601529/Perfection__2006_.rar.html
Thanks redredred! Have added the link, although Zshare seems to have (mostly) started working again in the last few days, after going bad for at least a month ...
Anybody come up yet with the 80's Ladies?
Added to miscellaneous section :
"Lonely Avenue" - David 'Fathead' Newman ft Roy Ayers (1971)
Hi. I'm new to all this blog thang' but let me tell You. This blog here is very nice and complete.Don't stop,You doing a great job !!! Here's something that I just started,come visit , tell me what You thing.
http://www.idpmusic.com/
New addition to Roy Ayers Production section :
Eighties Ladies - "Ladies of the 80s" (1980)
.. rip donated to here by the amazing Nikos from the amazing Funk my Soul blog!
All My Fsvourite Sound and Funky Disposition links re-directed.
This is my favorite post right here... Ayers is a beast...
I need Ethel Beatty - I Know You Care
No Love?
I did a really massive search for that a while back and couldn't find it. If you DO find it, please come back here and post a link k ?
New 320 rip of "Starbooty" (1978) generously donated by an anonymous friend. See alternate link above or just :
http://rapidshare.com/files/221599683/Ubiquity-Starbooty-1978.rar
Added to miscellaneous :
Roy Ayers Samples Mix - mix of hiphop tracks with Roy Ayers samples.
http://fat90smixesandstuff.blogspot.com/2009/03/roy-ayres-samples-mix.html
Link for "Ubiquity" (1970) was dead, new one added.
Thank you very much for Virgo Vibes. Beautiful work you've done here!
Flac link added for "Stoned Soul Picnic"
Ultra-rare Roy Ayers EP added!
See EP section, and thank El Goog for ripping it if you follow the link ..
"Comin' Home Baby" 4 track EP (rec. 1968, released 1976)
Roy Ayers - Vibes / Sonny Sharrock - Guitar / Miroslav Vitous - Bass / Bruno Carr - Drums
Added to Miscellaneous :
DJ Muro- "The Vibe Obsession" - DJ mix, mostly Roy Ayers, see details :
http://dustisback.blogspot.com/2009/08/great-mix.html
FLACs added for two albums :
"ubiquity" and "Virgo Red"
link added :
"Virgin ubiquity Remixed"
http://music-is-so-special-version2.blogspot.com/2009/10/roy-ayers-virgin-ubiquity-remixed-2006.html
FLAC link added for "He's Coming" (1972)
http://jazzallthat.blogspot.com/2009/10/roy-ayers-ubiquity-hes-coming-1972.html
FLAC link added :
"Live at Ronnie Scott's" (1998)
http://jazzallthat.blogspot.com/2009/10/roy-ayers-live-at-ronnie-scotts-1998.html
Added to "Production - Singles"
Ethel Beatty - "I Know You Care"/ "It's Your Love"
http://sanpasqualeent.blogspot.com/2009/11/ethel-beatty-i-know-you-care-vls-1981.html
"MAhogany Vibe" relinked
Hey!
Lovely blog you got there!
I have something about "You Send Me"! Visit here: http://wp.me/pJtA7-5M
Thanks Nübeats, I've added a link :)
FLAC version of "Evolution" anthology added
I would like to know if somebody in tha house have the "Double Trouble" LP, with Rick James.Greetings from Brasil!
Just added better quality version of Justo Almario "Interlude" in production section
Ubiquity II is gonezo.
Would some kind sir care to reupload that fine record?
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