Destination Motherland: The Roy Ayers Anthology [Box set]

For anybody who seriously craves a 100% guaranteed no-fillers/no-duds selection of `70s jazz funk, rare groove and disco-soul, this album is pretty much like striking pay dirt.

Whilst Roy Ayers is in no way under-rated by the soul, funk and jazz fraternity, he is inexplicably overlooked by the mainstream. This is a shame because, in my opinion, he stands alongside James Brown as one of the true innovators of dance music. He started hitting the right note around the time he set up his own band, Ubiquity, in the early `70s - and didn't stop coming up with the goods for almost two decades. His relentless ability to produce the funkiest hooks, the jazziest chords and the most incredibly hypnotic and addictive rhythms is astonishing. It is by no means a coincidence that just about every hip hop, house and dance DJ worth his/her salt has lifted a sample from the Roy Ayers back catalogue - and you will certainly recognise a few of them here.

If you are new to Roy Ayers but are open to the idea of jazzy and funky old school dance music, there are at least a dozen tracks here that will instantly satisfy. From CD1 alone that would include WE LIVE IN BROOKLYN BABY, RED BLACK & GREEN, BOOGIE BACK, THE OLD ONE TWO, LIFE IS JUST A MOMENT (PART 2), EVERYBODY LOVES THE SUNSHINE and SEARCHING. An honourable mention must go also to SWEET TEARS (THE DISCO VERSION) for being just about as perfect as left-field, string-laden jazz-meets-disco music gets. As for LOVE WILL BRING US BACK TOGETHER, well I would say, without exaggeration, that this justifies the price of the album on its own.

Despite the strength of this collection, incredibly it doesn't include all of Roy's finest moments. For example, the mighty BROTHER GREEN (THE DISCO KING) from his MYSTIC VOYAGE album is a glaring omission. But then again, this probably tells you everything you need to know about Ayers as an artist - he has recorded so, so many great, blistering jazz-funk-soul songs, it's a difficult task to narrow down a selection for an anthology - even given the added scope of a double album! (N.B. This is borne out by another Roy Ayers compilation that came out in the same year as this one - VIRGIN UBIQUITY is a collection of hitherto unreleased tracks from the Polydor vaults, many of which are up to the same standard as those included here).

DESTINATION MOTHERLAND, then. Nothing left to say but HEY DANCE HEADS! HERE IT IS, THE ULTIMATE OLD SCHOOL SOUL/JAZZ/FUNK MOTHER LODE !!

I saw Roy Ayers live in 1994, very good and last week (not nearly so good, though still a good night out)and bought this compilation to get me in the mood. It succeeded to the extent that it was rarely out of my MP3 player for the week before the gig. Only problem was it got my expectations so high that the gig just could not live up to them. Upon returning, I lay up to 2.00am listening to how the tunes played on the night should have been played, more focus on Roy Ayers and less guitar / sax playing which do not feature that much on this compilation. The highlights are too many to mention, but I was particularly impressed by disco version of Sweet Tears along with Fever which I had not heard before. Most of the old classics are there,but I could not undestand the absence of Mystic Voyage. For the price, an unbeatable introduction to the quality of Roy Ayers at the top of his game. If you are at all into his music and don't already have all the LPS, buy this. You won't be disappointed.

Roy Ayers started his musical life in his early twenties as a session vibraphone player, before forming his own band, Ubiquity, in the 70s, playing his own special blend of politico-jazz-funk-soul, influencing a whole host of artists, and indeed the whole acid jazz movement, started in England with the Talking Loud and Acid Jazz record labels, whose bands included Brand New Heavies, Young Disciples and Galliano, among others. Hip-hop acts have all sampled him since and all the while he's been sitting back, chuckling to himself while the royalties roll in and he's referred to as "The Man", "My Biggest Hero" and "God" by various RnB superstars. And it couldn't have happened to a nicer, more deserving fella! He still plays Ronnie Scotts once a year, every night for a week, and has recently added a residency at Camden's Jazz Cafe to his annual visits to London. It's a long way from playing a relatively unknown accompanying percussion instrument to being a worldwide superstar ... but he takes it all in his stride, "I'm having fun laughing with it," he has said. "I don't mind what they call me, that's what people do in this industry." Including the fabulous, laid back vibes of Everybody Loves The Sunshine, the more upbeat and definitely danceable Running Away, as well as the cult classics Love Will Bring Us Back Together, and Get On Up, Get On Down, this is an excellent way of getting into the great man before deciding which individual albums you might want to follow up ...