Roy Ayers Ubiquity (2024)

UK import

2024 box set of five albums by vibraphonist Roy Ayers - sometimes known as the "Godfather of Acid Jazz" - released in the years 1975-1977. I almost didn't buy this set because I already had two of the five albums, but I wanted to hear Vibrations and this set was the cheapest way to pick up a (legitimate) copy. At $30 ($6 per album), it's a hard to pass up this shining set. I mean, everybody loves the sunshine, right?

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A TEAR TO A SMILE (1975)
10 tracks, 40 minutes

In which Ayers moves from his early '70s funky jazz to a funk-jazz-soul-R&B-disco mix while maintaining his bona fides as one of the best vibraphone players in the land. There's a new focus on vocal tracks that sometimes works, sometimes doesn't. There's some great grooves and performances to be had throughout. With this album, Ayers begins his slow transition from jazz player to conductor/producer/arranger as he inches toward the smoother, more commercial sound of his late '70s peak.

I love how he adds descriptors for each performer in the credits.

Reviews/ratings:

• Record World: "The feel flows throughout"
• CashBox: "a low keyed approach to funk, sprinkled ever so lightly with the essential life juices of jazz and rhythm and blues."
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: Did not chart
• Billboard Jazz: #8
• CashBox: #181
• Record World Jazz: #11

Tracks: I enjoy 2000 Black, Show Us A Feeling, The Old One Two (Move To Groove), and A Tear To A Smile. My current favorite cut is the ethereal ballad, Miles (Love's Silent Dawn). The only track that plays it safe is a cover of Earth, Wind & Fire's The Way Of The World, but just because it's safe doesn't mean it's not extrememly enjoyable. (And quite frankly, that song is just begging for jazz covers.) Ayers hits the vibes more on this album than a few of the subsiquent releases, especially on tracks like Ebony Blaze, Time And Space, That's The Way Of The World, Miles (Love's Silent Dawn), and the title track.

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MYSTIC VOYAGE (1975)
10 tracks, 43 minutes

Previously appeared on The CD Project. Note: the 7" version of Evolution is included in this box set as a bonus track.

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EVERYBODY LOVES THE SUNSHINE (1976)
10 tracks, 40 minutes

Previously appeared on The CD Project.

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VIBRATIONS (1976)
11 tracks, 42 minutes

Following up the success of Everybody Loves The Sunshine, so we've got more of the same. I'm not complaining. Rather than trying to reinvent himself, Ayers doubled down on the formula he had been refining all decade: warm vocals, sophisticated jazz harmonies, and irresistible funk grooves. This album also marks the beginning of a shift to utlizing disco/dance grooves on a few tracks. While not having the commercial success of Everybody Loves The Sunshine, Vibrations did quite well on a variety of charts.

Reviews/ratings:

• DownBeat (★½): "I've been known to walk out of restaurants for no other reason that stuff like this coming over the loudspeaker."
• Billboard: "elements of jazz and soul that fuse together for a varied array of mellow and upbeat compositions."
• CashBox: "Roy Ayers Ubiquity is a classy jazz/rock/funk aggregation that, on each album, gets better and better."
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #74
• Billboard R&B: #11
• Billboard Jazz: #8
• CashBox: #94
• CashBox Jazz: #4
• Record World Jazz: #4

Tracks that could have fit on Everybody Loves The Sunshine: Baby I Need Your Love, The Memory, Better Days, Searching, Vibrations, and Baby You Give Me A Feeling.

Tracks embracing the disco trends of the time: Domelo (Give It To Me), Come Out And Play, and Moving Grooving.

Too funky to fit neatly in either of the above categories: Higher and One Sweet Love To Remember.

Bonus track: 7" version of Domelo (Give It To Me)

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LIFELINE (1977)
10 tracks, 43 minutes

I bought this box set because I dig the albums Mystic Voyage and Everybody Loves The Sunshine and wanted more of the same. That's just what we're treated to here. (I also recommend the 2003 compilation, Virgin Ubiquity: Unreleased Recordings 1976-1981, which I recently discovered at my local library). To say I am pleased with this box set is an understatement.

Reviews/ratings:

• Billboard: "There are some subtly cooking gems on this set"
• CashBox: "shines with fresh vitality and as much variety as you'll hear pressed in vinyl"
• Record World: "Ayers has disco-fied his sound as never before and the results should reach a much wider audience."
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★
• The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide (1985): ★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #72
• Billboard R&B: #9
• Billboard Jazz: #8
• CashBox: #74
• CashBox Jazz: #3
• Record World Jazz: #1

Tracks: my favorites are This Side Of Sunshine, Gotta Find A Lover, Lifeline, and Sanctified Feeling.

Bonus track: 12" version of Running Away, which peaked at #19 on Billboard's R&B chart and #14 on Billboard's dance chart

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Previously revisited for the blog:
Everybody Loves The Sunshine (1976)
Mystic Voyage (1975)

Roy Ayers Ubiquity - Everybody Loves The Sunshine (1976)

You were warned. A couple of months back, posting about Roy Ayers Ubiquity's 1975 album Mystic Voyage, I wrote, "This album has sent me down a '70s jazz/funk/soul rabbit hole so if you like this sorta thing, watch this space." So I picked up other recordings by Ayers plus other musicians in the same vein including Gary Bartz, Gene Dunlap, Donald Byrd, James Mason, Idris Muhammad, etc. So, while in quarantine, I've been a dancin' fool enjoying this good stuff.

There's not much of Ayers's vibraphone playing here, no matter. I probably wasn't ready for this in '76 but if someone had handed me a copy in '79 or '80, it would certainly have been appreciated as evidenced by repeated listenings. There's so much groove here, scratching me right where I itch. Good during any season, but I can see where this might become a summer album for me - it's just got a that feel to it.

I obviously dig it, but let's check out what some Amazon reviewers think:

• "no one is sleeping here."
• "I would put him as the Co-Godfather of Acid Jazz. Right next to Sun Ra."
• "I still play it today and will play it at my funeral"
• "Diese scheibe sorgt auf jeden Fall für gute Laune."

Press of the time:

• Billboard: "straddles the line between jazz, r&b and Latin"
• CashBox: "a unique taste of progressive jazz/R&B"
• Record World: "bridge the gap between jazz/rock and disco"
• DownBeat (★½): "I've been known to walk out of restaurants for no other reason that stuff like this coming over the loudspeaker."

One of these things is not like the others

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #51
• Billboard Jazz: #6
• Billboard R&B: #10
• CashBox: #52
• CashBox Jazz: #2

Tracks: My favorite of the ten tracks here is The Golden Rod. Other highlights are Hey Uh-What You Say Come On, The Third Eye, It Ain't Your Sign It's Your Mind, and the title track. Can't find anything that isn't worth your time, though.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None, but check back next summer.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Mystic Voyage (1975)

Roy Ayers Ubiquity - Mystic Voyage (1975)

"Depending on who you talk to, 1975's Mystic Voyage is either a classic or an example of a talented musician lowering his standards in order to make more money. But it's definitely enjoyable and pleasing if you fancy 1970s soul and funk and aren't a jazz snob." - Alex Henderson, Allmusic

Well, Alex, I do indeed fancy 1970s soul and funk, I'm not a jazz snob, and I find Mystic Voyage definitely enjoyable. I'd like to think the 9 year old version of myself would have dug this album and since we'll never know, let's just assume that's true because there's plenty to dig, including the funky sound of my beloved Hohner Clavinet.

Tunes on this album have wisely been sampled by the likes of Public Enemy, Coolio, Will Smith, Common, etc. I strongly suggest you sample the original.

Press of the time:

• Billboard: "Ayers manages elegantly to bring a jazzy instrumental sophistication to a more soul-funk style."
• CashBox: "the perfect musical marriage of a whole lot of musical influences."
• Record World: "A voyage to be taken."
• Stereo Review: "totally lacking in feeling and imagination."

Ayers has enjoyed more popularity abroad than in the US.
Sadly, these dates had to be postponed.

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #90
• Billboard Jazz: #4
• Billboard R&B: #13
• CashBox: #90
• CashBox Jazz: #13

Tracks: There's a nice variety here of styles, instrumentals & vocals, funk & jazz. The highlights are the tracks that feature Ayers's vibe work: Mystic Voyage, Evolution, The Black Five. And don't miss Brother Green (The Disco King) and Funky Motion (note to self: check out more Ronnie Foster sides). I wanted to not like track 9, Spirit of Doo Do, simply because of an inane title only the aforementioned 9 year old would love, but dadgummit it's got a irresistible slow funk groove.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Online evidence suggests this is a rare, expensive CD on the secondary market, so I was lucky to pick it up for $5 at a local used CD store on a recent visit. The CD was marked $19.99 and I was willing to pay that (buy 'em when you see 'em, I always say), but the store owner just picked up my stack of CDs, said "$5 each alright?" to which I shrugged, nodded, paid, and got the hell outta there.

This album has sent me down a '70s jazz/funk/soul rabbit hole so if you like this sorta thing, watch this space.