Creed Taylor Produced

Just like many of CTI/Kudu tracks from the mid-1970’s, Roy Ayers was a key part of the soundtrack of my life. Roy died Tuesday March 4th after a long illness. Roy is much lauded for his role in bringing soul to jazz, being the godfather of neo-soul and acid-jazz.

Roy Ayers did record some Oliver Nelson orchestra tracks that we produced by Creed, the only album he really worked on that Creed Taylor produced was Herbie Mann’s 1967 A&M CTI Album, “Glory Of Love” ^[1]https://www.discogs.com/master/46465-Herbie-Mann-Glory-Of-Love. It turns out that Herbie Mann was a turning point in a young Roy Ayer’s music career.

What none of the obituaries of Roy Ayers spend much time on is Roy Ayers’ role as a sideman for Herbie Mann and his early bop amd post-bop work. It was Herbie who brought Roy to New York and produced his albums for Atlantic ^[2]https://www.discogs.com/artist/2265-Roy-Ayers?searchParam=Herbie+Mann. Ayers recounted in a 2013 interview on Joyce Jones’ “Suga in My Bowl” WBAI radio program that he was called by Reggie Workman ^[3]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reggie_Workman to tell him that Herbie had a gig at the Lighthouse ^[4]Hermosa Beach, Los Angeles – The Lighthouse had become famous as the rehearsal studio for West Coast jazz in the 1950s. I plan to have a Leonard Feather-penned article for the anniversary of … Continue reading and he should come and sit-in.

It’s worth listening to the complete interview with Joyce Jones while reading the rest of this tribute to his early years; it features many of Ayers’ best tracks. Roy Ayers is in fine form and as sharp as a tack.

The complete Suga In My Bowl archives are available at the website https://sugainmybowl.org ^[5]https://sugainmybowl.org/show-archives/.

The Herbie Mann Lighthouse Sit-In

Herbie Mann had been supporting Tony Bennett at New York’s Copacabana in May. Among the other musicians supporting Bennett were pianist Ralph Sharron and Candido on percussion. Mann went from there to the Jazz Workshop in Boston, where Downbeat ^[6]Downbeat June 2nd, 1966 noted that Workman had started his second week with Mann and that vibraharpist Dave Pike was missing. The group would go from Boston to Los Angeles which is when Reggie Workman would call Roy Ayers.

At the time of the Lighthouse gigs, Dave Pike was back in New York playing a a multi-months long gig at Top Of The Gate with Bobby Timmons. This followed on from the March release of Herbie Mann’s “Monday Night At The Village Gate (Atlantic 14962) on which Pike appeared.

Mann would either be back at the Lighthouse or his run extended through July 2nd. It’s not clear which. Following the Lighthouse residency, Mann would go back to New York to appear at the 1966 Newport Jazz Festival without a vibes player in what Leonard Feather would describe as “the final glimpse of the Herbie Mann brass period” ^[7]“New Mann At Newport”, original vinyl and CD reissue liner notes https://www.discogs.com/master/264671-Herbie-Mann-New-Mann-At-Newport.

In September of 1966, Leonard Feather would conduct one of his “Blindfold Tests” with Roy Ayers, the introduction would say:

One of the most gratifying results of this year’s Down Beat International Jazz Critics Poll was the victory of Roy Ayers as vibraharpist most deserving of wider recognition.

Born in Los Angeles Sept. 10, 1940, Ayers was 21 when he came to the attention of a few jazz listeners on an LP he made with Vi Redd. (He owes some of his musical education to Miss Redd’s great-aunt, Mrs. Alma Hightower, with whom he studied piano.) He also played and recorded in the early 1960s with saxophonist Curtis Amy.

As a result of the album with Miss Redd, he soon cut a date of his own for the same label (United Artists) and during the next couple of years became increasingly active on the Los Angeles scene.

His technique and creativity improved continuously. During the last year or two he worked chiefly with Gerald Wilson’s band and the Jack Wilson Quartet. At the time of the interview below, Ayers was due to leave the West Coast to become a member of Herbie Mann’s combo. The following was Ayers’ first Blindfold Test; he received no prior information about the records played. ‘

Feather is being somewhat disingenuous here as he produced/supervised Vi Redd’s “Bird Call” album that included Ayers ^[8]https://www.discogs.com/master/798668-Vi-Redd-Bird-Call, and also Ayers first album for United Artists in 1963, “West Coast Vibes” ^[9]https://www.discogs.com/master/552918-Roy-Ayers-West-Coast-Vibes. The full Blindfold Test is included below.

Ayers would set the tone for Herbie Mann’s 1967 album “Impressions Of The Middle East” from the first bar of the first track “Turkish Coffee”. Ayers was the perfect foil for Mann’s flute.

First Recording

There is some confusion over which is Ayers first recording. It was in fact a 1962 Curtis Amy album “Way Down” – John William Hardy’s liner notes and credits list a “Ron Ayers” describing him as “a youthful Los Angeles resident with remarkably mature abilities.” The sessions were held at Pacific Jazz Studios, Los Angeles, CA, January 29 and February 5th 1962 ^[10]https://www.jazzdisco.org/pacific-jazz-records/catalog-10000-20000-series/#pj-46. I’m lucky to have a test pressing of the original 1962 album.

As far as I’m able to confirm, the second time Ayers was in the studio was indeed for the May 21 and 22, 1962 sessions ^[11]https://www.jazzdisco.org/vi-redd/discography/ which formed Vi Redd’s “Bird Call” album. Ayers is missing from the late 1962 and January 1963 session which formed Redd’s “Lady Soul”, 1963 album. Bird Call is actually a really good album that includes Vi Redd’s beautifully fluent sax, and vocals. I have the 1968 Solid State reissue – it has a fabulous full color gatefold sleeve.

Roy Ayers’ first appearance in Downbeat was in the December 6th, 1962 issue where it notes on page 44 that “Pianist Jack Wilson took his newly formed group to the Atlantic label. His Quartet consists of himself on piano; Roy Ayers vibraphone; Jim Crutcher, bass; and Jack Lynde, drums”. The most recent mention of Roy Ayers in Downbeat came in the February 2025 edition, where Kenny and Joanne Barron’s granddaughter – Nikara, also a vibraphonist, names Roy Ayers along with Lionel Hampton, Gary Burton and Steve Nelson as inspirations.

Roy Ayers In London

As noted in my introduction, Roy Ayers formed a big part of my youth in the clubs in London and the south east of England. His tracks Evolution, 2000 Black, Fever, Running Away, Heat of The Beat, Don’t Stop The Feeling and of course, Everybody Loves The Sunshine – were always on the decks. Ayers featured regularly in James Hamilton’s DISCOS column i the UK Music Week magazine. Friend and UK DJ remixer Greg Wilson has a podcast and 500-page tomb about Hamilton’s Disco pages ^[12]https://superweirdsubstance.com/james-hamiltons-disco-pages/ ^[13]https://www.mixcloud.com/gregwilson/who-was-james-hamilton-greg-wilson-mike-atkinson-podcast-2024/.

As far as I recall, I saw Ayers three time. The last on July 5th, 2018 at the Jazz Cafe while on a visit to London – I’m not one of those people that spends all of a concert with my phone out, but enjoy this 30-second clip.

Since I noted in my prior bio-sketch of Jack Teagarden and it will be part of a future post, Roy Ayers was one of many artists represented by Joe Glaser’s Advanced Booking Corp. ABC had a London office and almost certainly arranged Ayers international gigs through their contacts.

Blindfold Test

Further Information

The Roy Ayers Project: A 10 Year Discovery About the Meaning of Success ^[14]https://royayersconnection.medium.com/the-roy-ayers-project-a-10-year-discovery-about-the-meaning-of-success-161c72f4d17c
Roy Ayers’ Interview With The HistoryMakers (#1) ^[15]https://dl.thehistorymakers.org/catalog/d797823701a7e8d45eaae84e4c4b7ce7#?c=&m=&cv=
(Gift Link) New York Times Obituary by Andrey Henkin ^[16]https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/06/arts/music/roy-ayers-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.2E4.FY-x.prpLhyZANdQv&smid=url-share
Alexis Petridis Guardian Obituary ^[17]https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/mar/07/roy-ayers-everybody-loves-the-sunshine
Rolling Stone Obituary by Stephen Thomas Erlewine ^[18]https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/roy-ayers-dead-obituary-1235289961/

UPDATES:
March 7th, 2025 – Added in the second paragraph about Ayers recording with Herbie Mann on the 1967 A&M CTI Album Glory of Love. This was one of the original paragraphs that somehow got dropped from the published version.