In a career spanning six decades, vibraphonist and composer Roy Ayers has pushed the boundaries of jazz, transitioning from bop to soul-jazz, funk and acid jazz.  Three classic albums from the "Godfather of Neo-Soul" have recently been reissued by Australia's Raven Records label with a handful of bonus selections, as well.  The 2-CD set Searching for Sunshine: 1973-1980 collects Ayers' Polydor albums You Send Me (1978), Fever (1979) and No Stranger to Love (1979) and then dips into other areas of his catalogue to present eight bonus selections dating between 1973 and 1980.  All three albums were among Ayers' strongest sellers - You Send Me reached No. 48 on the Billboard 200, No. 16 R&B and No. 4 Jazz.  Fever followed it to No. 67 on the 200, No. 25 R&B and No. 6 Jazz, and No Stranger made it to No. 82 on the 200 and No. 22 R&B.

The Los Angeles native began recording as a sideman in the early 1960s and first rose to prominence as a member of flautist Herbie Mann's band.  Like Ayers would in his own solo career, Mann had moved from traditional jazz to sonic explorations incorporating soul and R&B.  When he launched his own band, he chose the name Roy Ayers' Ubiquity because he enjoyed the notion of being everywhere, musically.  Ayers called his style "total music" - integrating all of the day's current sounds with a jazzman's freedom of expression.

Searching for Sunshine begins with 1978's You Send Me, named after a cover of the Sam Cooke standard.  On all three albums presented in full here, Ayers served as arranger and producer or co-producer, and de-emphasized a reliance on his vibraphone.  He blended his own compositions with a familiar song or two.  Recording at the New York outpost of the famous Sigma Sound Studios, Ayers reinvented the Cooke song as a nearly nine-minute soul opus with vocalist (and album co-producer) Carla Vaughn, reshaping it into a mellow, smooth groove with his own scat vocals, sweetly lush strings and coolly cooing background vocals.  In between the sultry jams, Ayers acknowledged disco on tracks like "Get On Up, Get On Down" and "Can't You See Me?"

Ayers as musician and vocalist went even further into disco mode for Fever, taking a cue from his sizzling reinvention of the Eddie Cooley/Otis Blackwell title track popularized by Peggy Lee.   Proving that just about anything could be reinvented for the disco market, Ayers brought his signature cool to "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."  The opening track, his original "Love Will Bring Us Back Together," was sleek funk of the highest order, and the placid, electronically-tinged "Simple and Sweet" adhered to that mandate.  Carla Vaughn, vocalist Jim Gilstrap and pro session drummer Bernard Purdie all brought their ample gifts to the album.  "Leo" even offered an extended showcase for Ayers on the vibes.

No Stranger to Love scored Ayers a Top 10 Disco single with its pulsating opening track, "Don't Stop the Feeling."  Tracks like the thumping "Shack Up, Pack Up, It's Up (When I'm Gone)" saw the funk quotient remain high.  For the album's lone cover, Ayers reinterpreted Bobby Caldwell's "What You Won't Do for Love," the singer's Top 10 blue-eyed soul hit of 1978.  "Don't Let Our Love Slip Away" afforded Ayers another opportunity to work his magic on the vibraphone, and overall the album exuded the musician's most pronounced sensuality yet.  In place of Carla Vaughn, Debbie and Teri Burrell stepped in on vocals.

To these three albums, Raven has added eight bonus tracks, six recorded with Roy Ayers' Ubiquity, one credited solo, and one collaboration with trombonist Wayne Henderson of The (Jazz) Crusaders.  Among the bonus cuts is "Everybody Loves the Sunshine," the standout track from Ubiquity's 1976 album of the same name.  The song has become perhaps Ayers' most-sampled, appearing in later tracks by the likes of Bjork, Mary J. Blige, and a host of hip-hop artists including P.M. Dawn, Common and Mos Def.  Ayers has remained active as a live performer in the 21st century, adapting his "total music" to the sound of the new century.  He released his last album to date in 2011.

Terry Reilly has provided new liner notes in the color 12-page booklet, and Warren Barnett has remastered.  Roy Ayers' Searching for Sunshine: 1973-1980 is available now at the links below!  It's currently in stock at Amazon U.S. and will arrive in the U.K. store on July 17!

Roy Ayers, Searching for Sunshine 1973-1980 (Raven RVCD-390, 2015) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

CD 1

1. You Send Me
2. I Wanna Touch You Baby
3. Can't You See Me
4. Get On Up, Get On Down
5. Everytime I See You
6. Rhythm
7. And Don't You Say No
8. It Ain't Your Sign, It's Your Mind
9. Love Will Bring Us Back Together
10. Simple and Sweet
11. Take Me Out to the Ballgame
12. I Wanna Feel It (I Wanna Dance)
13. Fever
14. Is It Too Late to Try?
15. If You Love Me

CD 2

1. Leo
2. Don't Stop the Feeling
3. What You Won't Do for Love
4. Shack Up, Pack Up, It's Up (When I'm Gone)
5. Slyde
6. No Stranger to Love/Want You
7. Don't Let Our Love Slip Away
8. Don't Hide Your Love
9. Love from the Sun
10. Vibrations
11. Searching
12. Everybody Loves the Sunshine
13. Keep On Walking
14. Running Away
15. No Deposit, No Return
16. Love Fantasy

CD 1, Tracks 1-8 from You Send Me, Polydor LP PD-1-6159, 1978
CD 1, Tracks 9-15 and CD 2, Track 1 from Fever, Polydor LP PD-1-6204, 1979
CD 2, Tracks 2-8 from No Stranger to Love, Polydor LP PD-1-6246, 1979
CD 2, Track 9 from Roy Ayers Ubiquity, Virgo Red, Polydor LP PD 6016, 1973
CD 2, Tracks 10-11 from Roy Ayers Ubiquity, Vibrations, Polydor LP PD-1-6091, 1976
CD 2, Tracks 12-13 from Roy Ayers Ubiquity, Everybody Loves the Sunshine, Polydor LP PD-1-6070, 1976
CD 2, Track 14 from Roy Ayers Ubiquity, Lifeline, Polydor LP PD-1-6108, 1977
CD 2, Track 15 from Roy Ayers and Wayne Henderson, Step Into Our Life, Polydor LP PD-1-6179. 1978
CD 2, Track 16 from Love Fantasy, Polydor LP PD-1-6301, 1980