Roy Ayers — Ubiquity
Ubiquity is a three-CD set compiling together five albums released by American vibraphonist, composer, and band leader Roy Ayers in the mid-to-late 1970s. It sees him embracing a blend of grooving jazz-funk, soul, and R&B. With the albums featured moving between more inspired/creative, and more commercial-focused fare.
The set comes presented in an eight-panel fold-out digipak- this comes with a sixteen-page inlay booklet taking in an eight-page write-up about Ayers- who is counted as a key influence on both the acid jazz & neo-soul genres- as well as a brief discussion about the albums to hand by Charles Waring. With album credits, vinyl labels, and cover art.
Roy Ayers Ubiquity was the name of the ensemble Ayers put together in the ’70s, after his previous project Roy’s Band had become too ‘Square’ and ‘a drag’. The four albums here date from between 1975 and 1977- with all of them being originally released on Polydor Records.
The five albums are spread over the three-disc- with some albums overflowing onto other discs. First up we have 1975’s A Tear To Smile- this is a ten-track affair, which finds a mix of vibe-lined grooves, strutting jazz, and a few tracks featuring soulfully rising female vocals. It opens with “2000 Black” with its blend of urgently darting keys and horn work- with a blend of male soulful leads and jazz scat-to-harmonizing female vocals. Moving onto bounding funk bass, groovily cascading vibe lines, and tight horn vamping of “Ebony Blaze”. Though more mellow and gliding jazz funk of “The Way Of The World”. Onto the album's title track- which brings together tight wow-wow bass/ guitar, a blend of rising male & female, and some great vibe/ groove workouts.
Next is Mystical Voyage, also from 1975, and features ten tracks again. There is more influence of tighter rock-tinged grooves in a few tracks here. We kick off with the rapid darting ‘n’ jive bass lines, sing-song male vocals, and synth hover of “Brother Green( The Disco King)”. Onto the tight Strutting rock guitars/ funk bass, buoyant horn work, grooving vibe weaves, and hand-claps of “Evolution”. Through to jiving funk-rock grooving of “Funking Motion” with its blend of soulful male lead vocal, warbling female wails, jiving keys & tight bass twangs. The album is finished off with “The Black Five” which is all tight bass lines, darting percussion, and grooving vibe playing.
The third album here is 1976’s Everybody Loves The Sunshine- for this ten-track affair synths start taking a bigger part in Mr Ayers sonic mixing pot. We open with “Hey Uh What You Say Come On” which brings together sweeps of sustained & simmering synth tone, chugging ‘n’ locked funk groove, harmonica wails, and chanted vocals. There’s the vamping horn swing, squelchy synth detail, jiving keys and layered male/ female vocals of “You And Me My Love”. We have the laid-back title track with its steady plodding/ clip-clopping groove, locked/ jaunting keyboard lines, sing-song soulful male/ female vocals, and simmering-to-funked-out keyboard tones. The album finished off with "Lonesome Cowboy" featuring hooting ‘n’ tooting horns, tight percussive grooves, cascading keys, and singing-to-chatting male vocals. This is one of my favourite albums of this collection- due to the excellent synth/ keys from both Mr Ayers and Philip Woo, and locked groove/ sustained elements- which rather brought to mind Miles Davis’s On The Corner album.
Album number four is 1976’s Vibrations- this takes in eleven tracks- blending synth and rock elements, with once more a focus on locked/ dense grooves. We go from “Baby I Need Your Love” with its steady clip-clopping percussive detail, repeated male/ female vocals, and hazing/ layered jaunting keys. Onto the strutting funk rock/ jaunting harmonica groove of “Come Out And Play”. Through the steady horn vamping, vibe ‘n; key blends, and layered male/ female vocals of “Searching”. Or there’s the title track- a nicely laid-back affair, with upfront vibe runs, mellow horn lines, funk bass darts, and soulfully wailing/ moaning female vocals. Again, another excellent album.
Finally, we have the fifth and final album here 1977’s Lifeline. This is a track affair, which features more vocal-based tracks. We go from the slow sliding groove ‘n’ gently twang funk bass of “Gotta Find A Lover” with its blend of wailing 'n' soulful sailing male and female vocals- which over its just over seven-minute length features a few picking up the pace solo vibe breaks. Onto the tight funk rock groove, sassy sing-song chorus, and jiving vibe lines of “Cincinnati Growl”. Though upbeat chugging guitars, horn vamp, strutting male vocals & tight female backing singing of “Sanctified Feeling”. Though to the horn & baying rock guitar-lined final track of “Together” with its layers of female and male vocals and layers of jaunting locked keys. This album feels more commercial-focused, and at times sadly somewhat bland/ flat- there are a few decent moments, but nothing compared/ is up to the quality of the previous two albums. The final disc is finished off with three bonus tracks- these are single versions of album tracks.
If you have an interest in grooving ‘n’ funking 70’s fare, Ubiquity really is worth picking up. I was only vaguely aware of Mr Ayers name before this set, and at its best, this collection certainly shows him as a great/ creative band leader.