Roy Ayers, the jazz-funk vibraphonist identified for Everyone Loves the Sunshine and sampled ’around the music world, has died. He was 84.
Ayers died Tuesday in New York after a protracted sickness, his household introduced in a press release, describing him as “extremely influential and wanted as a music collaborator.”
Ayers was a pioneer of the jazz-funk motion, and he was well-known for neo-soul, acid jazz and rhythm and blues as effectively. He launched dozens of albums over the course of his profession, starting with West Coast Vibes in 1963. His largest hit, Everyone Loves the Sunshine, got here in 1976 from his group, Roy Ayers Ubiquity. His songs have since been sampled by artists together with Mary J. Blige (“My Life”), A Tribe Known as Quest (“Bonita Applebaum”) and Junior M.A.F.I.A. (“Get Cash”). He additionally launched collaborations with such artists as Guru, Fela Kuti, Rick James and the Roots.
In 2016, Pitchfork ranked the title monitor of Everyone Loves the Sunshine as one of many 200 prime songs of the Seventies. “This was not a track that was attempting to cover, although it’s nimble sufficient that it might,” the outlet wrote.
Ayers was born in Los Angeles in 1940. He first discovered in regards to the vibraphone after seeing Lionel Hampton’s Large Band when he was 5 years outdated, and later discovered the instrument after receiving one as a present at 17. As a toddler, Ayers additionally sang in church choir and discovered the piano earlier than finding out music concept at Los Angeles Metropolis School and finally signing his first contract with United Artists within the early ’60s.
In 1973, Ayers wrote and produced the soundtrack for blaxploitation motion flic Coffy, which starred Pam Grier. His last solo album, Mahogany Vibe, got here in 2004 and featured collaborations with Wright, Kamilah and Erykah Badu. In 2015, he appeared on Tyler, the Creator’s “Discover Your Wings” after which carried out on the rapper’s Camp Flog Gnaw in 2017. In 2020, he launched Roy Ayers JID002, a collaborative album with Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad.
Ayers is survived by his spouse, Argerie, and their kids, Mtume and Ayana Ayers. The household will announce plans for a celebration of life quickly.
