Can anyone advise on the best Roy Ayers albums to get.

Hi Joshua

I've been a fan of Roy Ayers for over 20 years and the cd I'm always
playing is the "Vibesman - Live at Ronnie Scotts " recorded from gigs in 1990, 1992 and 1993.
Thats when his guitarist was the late great Zachary Breaux.
I got the cd when it came out - surprised its not worn out the number of times I've played it.
A classic in my opinion.

Andy

Hi Joshua
If you have just discovered how great Roy Ayers then you are lucky, because the last few years has seen many of his seminal 70's albums re-issued onto CD, so there is now plenty of Roy to get your hands on.
I have always been a fan of acid jazz and first came across roy ayers in 93 after reading of his big influence on this genre. (He is the Godfather of Acid Jazz!!) The 1st album I got was a greatest hits compilation called "A Shining Symbol - the ultimate collection" This contains most of his better known tracks (16 in total) from his work in the 70's so if you are yet to buy any Roy Ayers CD's it is a good place to start. There was also a follow up to this album called "Get on up, get on down - more highlights from the genius of vibes" containing more hits and popular tracks from the 70's and early 80's. These were both released in 1993 but more recently, there has been a 2CD release of his greatest hits called "destination motherland - roy ayers anthology. This has a great collection of tracks on it as well.
Its also fantastic that we are now able to get many of his 70's albums on CD for the 1st time too (I think he recorded about 20 albums for polydor during the 70's and early 80's so there will undoubtedly be more to come as well - the man was just a creative genius during this time), I would honestly reccomend you get them all as they are all great albums. My personal favourite is probably "Mystic Voyage", but "Everybody Loves the sunshine" is top quality too.
I would also definitely reccommend "Virgin Ubiquity I & II" as well. These albums are the result of a project he did with BBE records to release some of the many unreleased recordings he made durng the 70's. It is testament to the man's abilities that all the tracks across these 2 albums are just superb, and how they remained unreleased for so long was almost criminal. If you like roy ayers you will certainly dig these albums. Both are 10 out of 10.

Hope this helps

Hi A. Smith
I do have the DESTINATION MOTHERLAND album which is excellent. But i will check out the albums you reccomended. Thank you.

"Mystic Voyage" and "Everybody Loves The Sunshine" are great. Roy Ayers is a musical genius and his contribution to and influence on modern dance music can never be overstated

Get the Destination Motherland anthology - It's a 2 CD set covering all bases and well worth the money at under ten quid.

I think the best Roy Ayers album is You Send Me

Please do not miss out on 'Lifeline' and the ultimate killer 'Running Away'. This ain't no acid jazz but mainline Jazz Funk!

Check out the RAMP reissue and Ubiquity's Elektra album called Star Booty which was released in 1978. The later is in the vein of the 2 Virgin Ubiquity unreleased sessions as opposed to his mid 70's spacey sound.

One of my favourite tracks of the early 80's which is by Rick Holmes but full of Roy Ayers influence is 'Remember to remember', 10 mins of laid back quality.

Any of them the blokes a legend

I used to Dj some years ago and concentrated on the serious funk tracks of Roy's. When I settled down I finally gave all my albums a thorough listen. I can now appreciate some of the more mellow jazz tracks. I have around 25 albums including ubiquities and collaborations with people such as Wayne Henderson. My advice take all you can get your hands on some stuff will grab you immediately others will grow on you. When I first heard Poo poo la la it was lost on me, by the time It grew on me it was quite difficult to find. I picked mine up in Washington Square, New York on vinyl. I got two autographed CDs from Roy himself at Ronnie Scotts a few years back I could not find words I just stood there with a silly grin, my wife was cracking up.
Favourites - everybody loves the sunshine ( ramp ), thank you thank you ( roy and wayne henderson ) If you love me, rhythm, poo poo la la, life is just a moment, mystic voyage too many to list

happy hunting

Steve