'l'here huy'e heen u lot ol numcs l'or it: soul jun. jun l'unk. t'usion. ucid jun. dunccl‘loor jun. .-\|| dill‘erent numes for the one intisicul lorm. numer l‘i‘eestyle instrumentution l'ttsed with churgcd. syncopulcd dunce rhythms.
There is no douht thut oy'cr the 40 ycut's ol his cut‘ccr. one ol the most tulented und inlluentiul urtists working in the lield hus heen Roy Ayers. .\'ot only is his music us l'resh us it eyer w us. it hus ulso uchiey'ed whut ul| grcut mitsic must uchiey'e: it hus crossed generutions to inspire und inform muny ol the mujor pluyers in the current sottl und jun-int]uenced scene. l-‘rom A Tribe ('ullcd Quest to Brund Nuhiun. l'rom lirykuh Budu to .\lury J. Blige. l'rom Notorious BIG lo Pull Duddy. his inlluencc cun quite be hcurd us much through sumpling us through their musicul settings.
Alter u stint us the \‘ihc‘s pluyer in the (‘hico llumilton hund in the curly ()(ls. he recorded his lirst three solo ulhums. demonstruting his jun sensihility coupled with un eur l‘or urrungements hcuy'ily inlluenced hy the .soul music ol' the time. But it wus in the 7(ls. when he l’ormed Roy Ayers l'hiquity. und hegun to incrcusingly use synthesised sounds. thut he hegun to shine.
Records such us [Zil‘('l'_\'/)()(l_\' /.()t'('.\‘ '/'/I(’ MUM/tine. I\’('(/. Black ."II(/ (;I'(’(‘II und life/{mas ure cusily umong the best hlends of soul und jun. l'usion ey'er recorded. My own l‘uyourite will ulwuys he his collulmrution with l"el;i Kuti on Atrial/1 ('wtm' ()f The ll'or/(l. But the key to his success is that Roy Ayers is u mun ol' muny exceptionul
Louie Vega: melody man
wrist? - «fl?
aim-gm: “3r ‘
18 THE LIST {x '
jun und soul. und thut I
tulcnts. lle displuys u nuturul und e\uherunt instrument honed.
production; u sophisticuted hut personul \ocul style: und un interest in his surroumlings thut mukes him us huppy to pluy in ll'tittl (ll llllllls us to \yiit'ls with undeivpriy ileged groups. und etjuully ut cusc with sociul comment
commund ot' his the \ ihcs hus u w ell—
stt‘cctw isc cur litit'
It has achieved what all great music must achieve: it has crossed generations to inspire and inform.
us u romuntic loy e song. ’l‘his is why his music
hus such un impuct. thut
he is u mujor figure in
would ncy er he without u collection ol his ulhtims.
Roy Ayers plays the Liquid Room, Edinburgh, Fri 27 Apr with DJ support from Simon Hodge and the Fruitmarket, Glasgow, Sat 28 Apr.
Roy Ayers: as fresh as ever
at work:
"C*_r .3CiC.-.\:F,L‘ iCll-leu . - c - c,- w-
'lil’l’wl .ilc 'f',{l(.’. lfvlujicl», -‘HMHH‘,’ j’L \l‘» : : j I i it’: r : r : * : ' - ,. ,. ,. ,. g I‘llyr _ _ - s — » : l’l ‘ i‘t‘ (jr” l: :1 j”: ‘ l- I " M" Mr); .’.:"Tl;\," ~ ',‘ : m: t '* F. : itcl: (rm-ic-tftm r s“; r i, ,: _ .3 \§,;l" .‘tl ., ) e c,
on Louie Vega
l j i " tlru l l', \.)iivpj‘~ ',/_: LI”; "1».- -‘igs " ~ K', _. ,r, Wis ‘_ v‘V’V—d c, C) ’-,j..,Fr ..,~c.“_ cjl.j_,‘ ,-c ‘..' :g"- “j."»‘il'~;| : is, ‘:L.--' 't' w .
*4 "Pal"! ; ,ll‘s 9'185.‘l.‘)~_’!'kl\: t'. 1 r‘ -: '_: , Sit; 'ZJv‘leTCVZTI’lf-er: :Lr.” ;"t:;.‘i : '::""
: :t. t“, it” : -: -: -.
- 'tr : U.r-)."‘..T:tt: ‘n t“ ‘ics l‘ti':\l\\| :‘ : :
lleliterk lrontmun und songwriter l)urren lluymun sounds e\usperuted. 'lt's u hit
ll’llsll'itllllg‘. listening to the sume song 2| times oyer.‘ he suys in the middle ot recording und miying their t'ollow—up to lust ycut”s uccluimed lli' lore l‘lit' ( in;
‘l wuntcd something u hit more ruw uguin. with the edges hungng out. 'l‘o do thut dclihet‘utely would he u contriyunce. so w e‘re leurning things ul‘resh. tising things like sequencers und unulogue synths. It's u tnusicul depurturc. less lyricul hut with more cur—cumly. But (iod knows how we're going to pluy some ol it liye.‘
It should he interesting it uny'thing. lot' Ilelnci”s slow rise to cull udulution hus heen lurgely due to lluymun‘s wry yet heurtlclt lyrics uhout ordinury l,ondon lilc. druwing compurisons to chumpions ol .loe l’uhlic like Billy Brugg und .lury'is (‘ockcr
‘lt‘s the uhilily to pick up on the smull things in Me und tell u story uhout it.‘ suys lluymun. ‘lt‘s u rure thing in British songwriters. hut something thut's purticulurly British. Lite is more uhout huying milk und wushing the dishes.‘
But he's thrown down some lyricul chullenges us well. ‘l'y'c written u song uhout Alun Beun. the fourth mun on the moon. lle game it ull up to he u puintcr. hut the only thing he puints ure scenes of ustronuuts on the moon (Jun l5. /.eschky )
Hefner play the Venue, Edinburgh, Fri 27 Apr; 13th Note Club, Glasgow, Sat 28 Apr and Glow 303, Aberdeen, Sun 29 Apr.