Jazz-funk pioneer Roy Ayers passed away in New York City on Tuesday after a long illness.
The legendary vibraphonist’s official Facebook page announced the sad news: ‘He lived a beautiful 84 years and will be sorely missed. His family ask that you respect their privacy at this time, a celebration of Roy’s life will be forthcoming.’
Roy and his group, Roy Ayers Ubiquity, scored their biggest hit in 1976 with Everybody Loves the Sunshine, which peaked at No. 51 on the Billboard 200 chart.
In 2016, Pitchfork ranked the track as one of the 200 top songs of the 1970s, writing: ‘This was not a song that was trying to hide, though it’s nimble enough that it could.’
Ayers began his career working squarely in jazz in the early 1960s, particularly in bebop-derived styles, but as the decade progressed he began to incorporate elements of popular genres like funk and R&B into his music.
By the ’70s, the transition was complete, and Ayers flirted with mainstream success for the first time in his career, even though critics weren’t always receptive to his more accessible tunes.
Jazz-funk pioneer Roy Ayers passed away in New York City on Tuesday after a long illness. The vibraphonist started out playing straight-ahead jazz in the early ’60s before incorporating elements of funk and R&B beginning in the late ’60s (pictured in 2017)
The legendary musician’s official Facebook page announced the sad news: ‘He lived a beautiful 84 years and will be sorely missed. His family ask that you respect their privacy at this time, a celebration of Roy’s life will be forthcoming’
Ayers — who averages 382K monthly listeners on Spotify — had music in his genes growing up with his mother Ruby, who taught piano, and father Roy Sr., who played trombone.
The Los Angeles native released over 40 albums and collaborated with artists like Tyler the Creator, Erykah Badu, the Roots, Fela Kuti, Herbie Hancock, and Rick James.
Roy also memorably composed the music for Jack Hill’s 1973 blaxploitation classic Coffy, starring Pam Grier as a nurse-turned-vigilante.
Ayers’ music had a huge impact in the hip-hop community where he was sampled on Kendrick Lamar’s 2012 song Good Kid, Mary J. Blige’s 1994 hit My Life, A Tribe Called Quest’s 1990 song Bonita Applebum, and Junior M.A.F.I.A.’s 1995 hit Get Money.
Pharrell Williams has reportedly cited the Godfather of Neo-Soul as one of his key musical heroes, and the virtuoso bassist and singer Thundercat had also performed with him.
Ayers was born in 1940 in Los Angeles to musical parents.
His mother, Ruby, was a schoolteacher, but she doubled as a piano instructor, and his father, Roy Sr., played trombone.
According to a biography on his website, the budding musician was already playing ‘boogie woogie tunes on the piano’ by the time he was five, and by nine he had incorporated the steel guitar into his repertoire.
Roy and his group Roy Ayers Ubiquity scored their biggest hit in 1976 with Everybody Loves the Sunshine, which peaked at No. 51 on the Billboard 200 chart (pictured in 1983)
After experimenting with multiple instruments as a child growing up in LA, Ayers settled on the vibraphone, a marimba-like instrument made of tuned metal bars with a motor to create a haunting tremolo. It’s most popular in jazz music
Ayers – who averages 382K monthly listeners on Spotify – had music in his genes growing up with his mother Ruby, who taught piano, and father Roy Sr., who played trombone (pictured in 1970)
The Los Angeles native (pictured in 2018) released over 40 albums and collaborated with artists like Tyler the Creator, Erykah Badu, the Roots, Fela Kuti, Herbie Hancock, and Rick James
Roy also memorably composed the music for Jack Hill’s 1973 blaxploitation classic Coffy starring Pam Grier as a nurse-turned-vigilante
He experimented with other instruments, including the flute, trumpet and drums, before settling on an instrument that was a compromise between the piano and percussion: the vibraphone.
The instrument, which features tuned metal bars played with mallets, resembles a xylophone or marimba.
Unlike those instruments, the vibraphone features resonator tubes running under each metal bar that are outfitted with a disc that can spin at variable speeds when a motor is turned on.
Without the motor, the vibraphone works as a simple metallophone, but when the motor is engaged, as in most jazz, it creates a haunting vibrating tremolo effect that makes the vibraphone stand out from other mallet percussion.
In an interview with the Washington Post from 2013, Ayers described neo-soul — the term he used to classify his later music — as ‘a sound that encompasses all these different sounds.’
‘I like it because it’s better than saying I just play jazz, or I just play funk, or I just play blues, or whatever,’ he explained. ‘I play neo-soul.’
Ayers’ final solo studio album Mahogany Vibe was released in 2004, but his collaborative album JID002 — the second album in the Jazz Is Dead series from Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad — dropped in 2020.
The vibraphonist didn’t show any signs of stopping as he entered his 80s, but by 2023 it appeared that he was getting ready to lay down his mallets.
Ayers’ music had a huge impact in the hip-hop community where he was sampled on Kendrick Lamar’s (pictured February 9) 2012 song Good Kid, Mary J. Blige’s 1994 hit My Life, A Tribe Called Quest’s 1990 song Bonita Applebum, and Junior M.A.F.I.A.’s 1995 hit Get Money
Pharrell Williams has reportedly cited the Godfather of Neo-Soul as one of his key musical heroes (pictured Tuesday)
Ayers had announced a European ‘farewell tour’ for the spring and summer of 2023, but after opening it in May he announced that he had to cancel the remaining shows due to ‘health complications’ from a Covid-19 bout; seen in 1976
Ayers had announced a string of live shows to take place in 2023, which he had dubbed his ‘farewell tour.’
As of April of that year, he had only announced European dates, so it’s unclear if he still planned to perform back in the US.
But after opening the tour in May, Ayers announced on his Facebook page that he would have to cancel the remainder of the international tour.
‘Hello to all my fans, unfortunately, due to health complications stemming from a recent bout with Covid-19, I will be canceling upcoming performances for 2023,’ he wrote at the time, via USA Today.
‘We had high hopes I would recover in time, but all parties involved believe this is the best course of action for now. Once I have had proper time to heal and move past this, I will be looking to get back to work,’ he added.
Those spring 2023 dates appear to have been his final concerts.
Ayers leaves behind his wife Argerie and their two children, Ayana and Mtume, as well as his son Nabil from a prior relationship
