Last evening, TSD learned that jazz legend Roy Ayers had passed away at the age of 84. Prior to the sad news, we had completed and scheduled this news item on Cherry Red and Robinsongs' recent collection of five albums he recorded with the loose collective he called Ubiquity. We dedicate this piece to Roy Ayers and celebrate his enormous legacy. When vibraphonist-composer Roy Ayers moved to the Polydor label in 1970, he titled his debut album Ubiquity. In an interview quoted in the new
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