Roy Ayers Crystal Reflections Rarotonga

1. Roy Ayers Crystal Reflections Rarotonga Hotel
2. Roy Ayers Crystal Reflections Rarotonga Island

Composer, vibraphonist, and vocalist Roy Ayers is one of the greatest jazz-funk musicians of our time. During the seventies and early eighties, the legendary artist released a string of groundbreaking recordings that defined any genre, fusing jazz, funk, and soul together to create his own signature sound which some have labeled “neo-soul.” Regardless of the label, his music can be heard across a wide diverse of settings, anywhere from the disco dance floor to a jazz nightclub.Here are 15 essential records (in chronological order) by the jazz-funk legend. Also remember to checkout playlist at the bottom of this post.Roy Ayers — ‘Virgo Vibes’(1967 / Atlantic)Prior to to exploring a more funkier sound, Roy Ayers spent the sixties as a promising up-and-coming post-bop jazz vibraphonist, performing alongside Jack Wilson, Herbie Mann, and performing in the Gerald Wilson Orchestra. During this same period, Ayers released two jazz-focused albums as a leader, with one of them being the 1967 recording Virgo Vibes (the other being the 1963 West Coast Vibes). This brilliant, and often overlooked album from Ayers features some of the best jazz artists of this era, including trumpeter Charles Tolliver, saxophonists Joe Henderson and Harold Land, bassists Reggie Workman and Buster Williams, pianist Herbie Hancock, drummer Derek Bailey, and many others.Roy Ayers — ‘Ubiquity’(1970 / Polydor)Ayer’s first release on Polydor sees the vibraphonist shifting his focus away from straight-ahead jazz and towards a more funk-inspired fusion sound. This breakthrough recording has a warm sun-tinged soulful jazz-funk feel, featuring a number of early “Ubiquity-era” classics including “Pretty Brown Skin,” “Hummin’ in the Sun,” “Can You Dig It?,” and the mid-tempo groover “Painted Desert.” This highly-collectable album seems to have set-up the foundation for what became Ayers’ signature sound moving forward.Roy Ayers Ubiquity — ‘He’s Coming’(1972 / Polydor)If the 1970 Ubiquity recording set the foundation, He’s Coming is the masterpiece that followed. Continuing to brilliantly fuse together jazz, soul, and tightly woven funk grooves, this recording sees Ayers at the top of his game.

Roy Ayers Crystal Reflections Rarotonga Hotel

Roy Ayers Crystal Reflections Rarotonga Island

The genius of Roy Ayers knows no end - and as this set of unreleased work from the 70s proves, Roy was always working at top form back in the day - even above and beyond his classic albums from the time! The grooves here are tremendous - funky, soulful, jazzy, and every bit as wonderful as the work that Roy did for his classic albums on Polydor - and in a way, the whole set's even tighter and heavier than any of Roy's full LPs, because it's a distillation of his sound from the time, hand-picked from the vaults with an ear towards the kind of timeless grooves that have been a huge influence on many worlds of music for years! You've never heard any of these tunes before, but we can promise you'll love them every bit as much as Roy's tracks on albums like Coffy, Vibrations, Mystic Voyage, and other classics - and the quality of the set only further pushes our jaw-dropping respect for the man! Titles include 'Holiday', 'Kwajilori', 'I Am Your Mind (part 2)', 'Touch Of Class', 'Third Time', 'Come To Me', 'Wide Open', 'Funk In The Hole', 'Liquid Love', 'Tarzan', 'Sunshine (demo)', and 'I Like The Way You Do It To Me'.