Roy Ayers (born September 10, 1940) is an American funk, soul, and jazz composer and vibraphone player. Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure at Polydor Records beginning in the 1970s, during which he helped pioneer jazz-funk. He is a key figure in the acid jazz movement, which is a mixture of jazz into hip-hop and funk, and has been dubbed by many as "The Godfather of Neo Soul". He is most well known for his signature compositions "Everybody Loves The Sunshine" and "Searchin". and is also famous for having more sampled hits by rappers than any other artist.
Biography
Early life
Ayers was born in Los Angeles, and grew up in a musical family, where his father played trombone and his mother played piano. At the age of five, he was given his first pair of vibraphone mallets by Lionel Hampton. The area of Los Angeles that Ayers grew up in, now known as "South Central" but then known as "South Park", was the epicenter of the Southern CaliforniaBlack music scene. The schools he attended (Wadsworth Elementary, Nevins Middle School, and Thomas Jefferson High School) were all close to the famed Central Avenue, Los Angeles' equivalent of Harlem's Lenox Avenue and Chicago's State Street. Roy would likely have been exposed to music as it not only emanated from the many nightclubs and bars in the area, but also poured out of many of the homes where the musicians who kept the scene alive lived in and around Central. During high school, Ayers sang in the church choir and fronted a band named The Latin Lyrics, in which he played steel guitar and piano. His high school, Thomas Jefferson High School, produced some of the most talented new musicians, such as Dexter Gordon.
Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group
Searching · Roy Ayers
Vibrations
℗ 1976 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Released on: 1976-01-01
Producer, Associated Performer, Recording Arranger: Roy Ayers
Producer, Co- Producer, Associated Performer, Recording Arranger: William Allen
Producer, Co- Producer, Associated Performer, Recording Arranger: Edwin Birdsong
Producer, Co- Producer: James Green
Producer, Associate Producer: Maurice Green
Producer, Co- Producer, Studio Personnel, Engineer: James Green
Associated Performer, Conga, Percussion: Chano O'Ferral
Associated Performer, Drums: Steve Cobb
Studio Personnel, Asst. Recording Engineer: Jerry Solomon
Associated Performer, Guitar: Calvin Banks
Associated Performer, Piano, Keyboards, Synthesizer Programming, Harmonica: Philip Wo...
published: 31 Jul 2018
Roy Ayers - Searching HQ
Classic Track from the Vibrations LP realeased in 1976
published: 13 Jul 2011
Roy Ayers: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
March 1, 2018 | Abby O'Neill -- Roy Ayers arrived at his Tiny Desk performance beaming with positivity. The 77-year-old funk icon and vibraphonist sauntered through the office with a Cheshire grin on his face, sharing jokes with anyone within earshot. Accompanying him was a trio of brilliantly seasoned musicians — keyboardist Mark Adams, bassist Trevor Allen and drummer Christopher De Carmine. Later during the performance, pride washed across Ayers' face as his bandmates took the spotlight. (Be sure to watch as Adams woos not just the room but brightens Ayers' face during his solo.)
The set began with one of Ayers' more recognizable hits: an extended version of "Searching," a song that embodies the eternal quest for peace and love. During "Black Family" (from his 1983 album Lots Of Love),...
Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group
Searching · Roy Ayers
Vibrations
℗ 1976 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Released on: 1976-01-01
Producer, Associated Per...
Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group
Searching · Roy Ayers
Vibrations
℗ 1976 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Released on: 1976-01-01
Producer, Associated Performer, Recording Arranger: Roy Ayers
Producer, Co- Producer, Associated Performer, Recording Arranger: William Allen
Producer, Co- Producer, Associated Performer, Recording Arranger: Edwin Birdsong
Producer, Co- Producer: James Green
Producer, Associate Producer: Maurice Green
Producer, Co- Producer, Studio Personnel, Engineer: James Green
Associated Performer, Conga, Percussion: Chano O'Ferral
Associated Performer, Drums: Steve Cobb
Studio Personnel, Asst. Recording Engineer: Jerry Solomon
Associated Performer, Guitar: Calvin Banks
Associated Performer, Piano, Keyboards, Synthesizer Programming, Harmonica: Philip Woo
Associated Performer, Tenor Saxophone: Justo Almario
Associated Performer, Trumpet: John Mosley
Composer Lyricist: Roy Ayers
Auto-generated by YouTube.
Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group
Searching · Roy Ayers
Vibrations
℗ 1976 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Released on: 1976-01-01
Producer, Associated Performer, Recording Arranger: Roy Ayers
Producer, Co- Producer, Associated Performer, Recording Arranger: William Allen
Producer, Co- Producer, Associated Performer, Recording Arranger: Edwin Birdsong
Producer, Co- Producer: James Green
Producer, Associate Producer: Maurice Green
Producer, Co- Producer, Studio Personnel, Engineer: James Green
Associated Performer, Conga, Percussion: Chano O'Ferral
Associated Performer, Drums: Steve Cobb
Studio Personnel, Asst. Recording Engineer: Jerry Solomon
Associated Performer, Guitar: Calvin Banks
Associated Performer, Piano, Keyboards, Synthesizer Programming, Harmonica: Philip Woo
Associated Performer, Tenor Saxophone: Justo Almario
Associated Performer, Trumpet: John Mosley
Composer Lyricist: Roy Ayers
Auto-generated by YouTube.
March 1, 2018 | Abby O'Neill -- Roy Ayers arrived at his Tiny Desk performance beaming with positivity. The 77-year-old funk icon and vibraphonist sauntered thr...
March 1, 2018 | Abby O'Neill -- Roy Ayers arrived at his Tiny Desk performance beaming with positivity. The 77-year-old funk icon and vibraphonist sauntered through the office with a Cheshire grin on his face, sharing jokes with anyone within earshot. Accompanying him was a trio of brilliantly seasoned musicians — keyboardist Mark Adams, bassist Trevor Allen and drummer Christopher De Carmine. Later during the performance, pride washed across Ayers' face as his bandmates took the spotlight. (Be sure to watch as Adams woos not just the room but brightens Ayers' face during his solo.)
The set began with one of Ayers' more recognizable hits: an extended version of "Searching," a song that embodies the eternal quest for peace and love. During "Black Family" (from his 1983 album Lots Of Love), you'll hear him call out "Fela" throughout. That's because Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti was a huge influence on Ayers in the late 1970s; the two eventually collaborated on an album, 1980's Music Of Many Colors. "Black Family" is, in part, a tribute to Fela, even if the original version didn't include his name.
Concluding this mini-concert, Ayers closed the set out with his signature tune, "Everybody Loves the Sunshine", a feel-good ode if there ever was one. The essence of this song flowed right through him and out to the NPR audience.
SET LIST
"Searching"
"Black Family"
"Everybody Loves The Sunshine"
MUSICIANS
Roy Ayers, Mark Adams (keyboards), Trevor Allen (bass), Christopher De Carmine (drums)
CREDITS
Producers: Abby O'Neill, Morgan Noelle Smith; Creative Director: Bob Boilen; Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin; Videographers: Morgan Noelle Smith, Kara Frame, Bronson Arcuri, Dani Lyman; Production Assistant: Joshua Bote; Photo: Jenna Sterner/NPR.
March 1, 2018 | Abby O'Neill -- Roy Ayers arrived at his Tiny Desk performance beaming with positivity. The 77-year-old funk icon and vibraphonist sauntered through the office with a Cheshire grin on his face, sharing jokes with anyone within earshot. Accompanying him was a trio of brilliantly seasoned musicians — keyboardist Mark Adams, bassist Trevor Allen and drummer Christopher De Carmine. Later during the performance, pride washed across Ayers' face as his bandmates took the spotlight. (Be sure to watch as Adams woos not just the room but brightens Ayers' face during his solo.)
The set began with one of Ayers' more recognizable hits: an extended version of "Searching," a song that embodies the eternal quest for peace and love. During "Black Family" (from his 1983 album Lots Of Love), you'll hear him call out "Fela" throughout. That's because Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti was a huge influence on Ayers in the late 1970s; the two eventually collaborated on an album, 1980's Music Of Many Colors. "Black Family" is, in part, a tribute to Fela, even if the original version didn't include his name.
Concluding this mini-concert, Ayers closed the set out with his signature tune, "Everybody Loves the Sunshine", a feel-good ode if there ever was one. The essence of this song flowed right through him and out to the NPR audience.
SET LIST
"Searching"
"Black Family"
"Everybody Loves The Sunshine"
MUSICIANS
Roy Ayers, Mark Adams (keyboards), Trevor Allen (bass), Christopher De Carmine (drums)
CREDITS
Producers: Abby O'Neill, Morgan Noelle Smith; Creative Director: Bob Boilen; Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin; Videographers: Morgan Noelle Smith, Kara Frame, Bronson Arcuri, Dani Lyman; Production Assistant: Joshua Bote; Photo: Jenna Sterner/NPR.
Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group
Searching · Roy Ayers
Vibrations
℗ 1976 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Released on: 1976-01-01
Producer, Associated Performer, Recording Arranger: Roy Ayers
Producer, Co- Producer, Associated Performer, Recording Arranger: William Allen
Producer, Co- Producer, Associated Performer, Recording Arranger: Edwin Birdsong
Producer, Co- Producer: James Green
Producer, Associate Producer: Maurice Green
Producer, Co- Producer, Studio Personnel, Engineer: James Green
Associated Performer, Conga, Percussion: Chano O'Ferral
Associated Performer, Drums: Steve Cobb
Studio Personnel, Asst. Recording Engineer: Jerry Solomon
Associated Performer, Guitar: Calvin Banks
Associated Performer, Piano, Keyboards, Synthesizer Programming, Harmonica: Philip Woo
Associated Performer, Tenor Saxophone: Justo Almario
Associated Performer, Trumpet: John Mosley
Composer Lyricist: Roy Ayers
Auto-generated by YouTube.
March 1, 2018 | Abby O'Neill -- Roy Ayers arrived at his Tiny Desk performance beaming with positivity. The 77-year-old funk icon and vibraphonist sauntered through the office with a Cheshire grin on his face, sharing jokes with anyone within earshot. Accompanying him was a trio of brilliantly seasoned musicians — keyboardist Mark Adams, bassist Trevor Allen and drummer Christopher De Carmine. Later during the performance, pride washed across Ayers' face as his bandmates took the spotlight. (Be sure to watch as Adams woos not just the room but brightens Ayers' face during his solo.)
The set began with one of Ayers' more recognizable hits: an extended version of "Searching," a song that embodies the eternal quest for peace and love. During "Black Family" (from his 1983 album Lots Of Love), you'll hear him call out "Fela" throughout. That's because Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti was a huge influence on Ayers in the late 1970s; the two eventually collaborated on an album, 1980's Music Of Many Colors. "Black Family" is, in part, a tribute to Fela, even if the original version didn't include his name.
Concluding this mini-concert, Ayers closed the set out with his signature tune, "Everybody Loves the Sunshine", a feel-good ode if there ever was one. The essence of this song flowed right through him and out to the NPR audience.
SET LIST
"Searching"
"Black Family"
"Everybody Loves The Sunshine"
MUSICIANS
Roy Ayers, Mark Adams (keyboards), Trevor Allen (bass), Christopher De Carmine (drums)
CREDITS
Producers: Abby O'Neill, Morgan Noelle Smith; Creative Director: Bob Boilen; Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin; Videographers: Morgan Noelle Smith, Kara Frame, Bronson Arcuri, Dani Lyman; Production Assistant: Joshua Bote; Photo: Jenna Sterner/NPR.
Roy Ayers (born September 10, 1940) is an American funk, soul, and jazz composer and vibraphone player. Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure at Polydor Records beginning in the 1970s, during which he helped pioneer jazz-funk. He is a key figure in the acid jazz movement, which is a mixture of jazz into hip-hop and funk, and has been dubbed by many as "The Godfather of Neo Soul". He is most well known for his signature compositions "Everybody Loves The Sunshine" and "Searchin". and is also famous for having more sampled hits by rappers than any other artist.
Biography
Early life
Ayers was born in Los Angeles, and grew up in a musical family, where his father played trombone and his mother played piano. At the age of five, he was given his first pair of vibraphone mallets by Lionel Hampton. The area of Los Angeles that Ayers grew up in, now known as "South Central" but then known as "South Park", was the epicenter of the Southern CaliforniaBlack music scene. The schools he attended (Wadsworth Elementary, Nevins Middle School, and Thomas Jefferson High School) were all close to the famed Central Avenue, Los Angeles' equivalent of Harlem's Lenox Avenue and Chicago's State Street. Roy would likely have been exposed to music as it not only emanated from the many nightclubs and bars in the area, but also poured out of many of the homes where the musicians who kept the scene alive lived in and around Central. During high school, Ayers sang in the church choir and fronted a band named The Latin Lyrics, in which he played steel guitar and piano. His high school, Thomas Jefferson High School, produced some of the most talented new musicians, such as Dexter Gordon.
Coming with the realness lyrics of life Some people need to watch what they say Watch what you're saying Someone's gonna hear exactly what you said Soon you'll be paying in the dead of night They'll be nowhere to run while you were laying Laying for the doom that's coming to a head, no kind of praying Is gonna save us from the past that will surely come Warning, rappers be like boring they're sleeping It's deep man, so peep in closely when I'm speaking Weaklings, it's obvious you can't like up to Your petty pointless words, yet and still you love to Run off your jibs, now there come a time for judgment Punishment, what if we take away your ornaments And strip you down to the raw deal then I'd reveal the evidence 'Cause you don't really represent Watch what you're saying Someone's gonna hear exactly what you said Soon you'll be paying in the dead of night They'll be nowhere to run while you were laying Laying for the doom that's coming to a head, no kind of praying Is gonna save us from the past that will surely come Listen here, I'm getting tired of you shooting lip You better tighten up or you will really slip up And say something that you mean to do Turn around and it'll be on you To save yourself from your call and blunder And bury your [unverified] like the world it's under And like a fool you'll sit and wonder What, who do you wanna know? Wish no water No magic spell can save you from your self made hell You've made your bed and you know darn well You got a lay it in the [unverified] and there's no magic potion To save you from the wheels you've set in motion The stone is cut, the die is cast, what were you thinking? Watch what you're saying Someone's gonna hear exactly what you said Soon you'll be paying in the dead of night They'll be nowhere to run while you were laying Laying for the doom that's coming to a head, no kind of praying Is gonna save us from the past that will surely come I can't understand it, they should ban it, can it? Too much weak talk and not enough real hip-hop I sense a purpose is filling me to display credibility And show responsibility, willingly I'll take on any Johnny Dangerous Pull his file, for he knows, he cannot hang with this The illest king, I smack the jokers No hocus pocus, a real MC when I kick vocals Watch what you're saying Someone's gonna hear exactly what you said Soon you'll be paying in the dead of night They'll be nowhere to run while you were laying Laying for the doom that's coming to a head, no kind of praying
What made you decide to take on this classic Roy Ayers song? ... Roy Ayers ... " data-original-title title>Roy Ayers tune, "Searching," I thought about Scottish vocalists who could do the song justice, and I immediately heard Russell Stewart singing over it.
If someone has not released a recording in twenty five years, it must be a special occasion ... The stated purpose of the series is "to travel the world searching for the artists that created them." ... Roy Ayers ... " data-original-title title>Roy Ayers and ... ">.
OPINION ... Editor’s note. The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio ... But I do think that finding time to chill for one’s self is important and I’m searching like Roy Ayers for it ... .