Roy Ayers

One of the most visible and winning vibraphonists since the early 1960s, Roy Ayers' reputation is that of one of the major prophets of jazz-funk and acid jazz, a man decades ahead of his time who successfully erased the boundaries between the various genres and styles of Black music in America. His playing signature has always been rooted in hard bop; it's crisp, lyrical, and rhythmically resilient. Though he issued fine hard and post-bop records for Atlantic in the 1960s, he formed Roy Ayers' Ubiquity, and issued their eponymous Polydor debut album in 1970 that showcased his...