#vibraphonists

[defjux]

Sasha Berliner

[jazzdailyblog]

Joe Chambers: A Masterful Journey Through Jazz

Introduction: Joe Chambers, born eighty-two years ago today on June 25, 1942, in Stoneacre, Virginia, stands as a pivotal figure in the jazz world, not only for his virtuosity as a drummer but also for his remarkable talents as a pianist, vibraphonist, and composer. Over a career spanning more than six decades, Chambers has contributed significantly to the evolution of jazz, working with some of…

[musicologicalhistory]

1986

[hancockinstitute]

Jazzback Thursday 🎶 North Carolina, 1991: Artist and astronaut Ed Dwight presenting a sculpture to vibraphonist and percussionist Lionel Hampton at an Institute event at Duke University in North Carolina hosted by actress Phylicia Rashad.

[1264doghouse]

1948, when Mary Lou Williams hosted a jam session with some female contemporaries in her NYC apartment. Vivien Garry: bass, Bridget O'Flynn: drums, Mary Osborne: guitar, Margie Hyams: vibraphonist & Mary Lou Williams: piano.

[arinzeture]

Roy Ayers, the legendary vibraphonist and musician behind 1976’s album “Everybody Loves the Sunshine,” has died.

[projazznet]

Milt Jackson – Born Free

Born Free is an album by vibraphonist Milt Jackson recorded in 1966 and released on the Limelight label.

Milt Jackson – vibes Jimmy Owens – trumpet Jimmy Heath – tenor saxophone Cedar Walton – piano Walter Booker – bass Mickey Roker, Otis “Candy” Finch – drums

[goodblacknews]

MUSIC MONDAY: "Running Away: The Essential Roy Ayers" Playlist (LISTEN)

by Marlon West (Bluesky: @marlonweststl.bsky.social, Spotify: marlonwest) In 1945, Lionel Hampton spotted a five year-old boogying so hard during his concert in Los Angeles, that the legendary the vibraphonist handed young Roy Ayers his first pair of mallets. Roy Ayers went on to establish himself as a pioneer of jazz-funk and soul. He was hugely influential on the neo-soul and hiphop…

[justforbooks]

Roy Ayers

Jazz-soul vibraphonist and band leader best known for his laid-back summer track Everybody Loves the Sunshine

When Ruby Ayers, a piano teacher, took her five-year-old son Roy to a concert by the Lionel Hampton Big Band in California in 1945, the boy showed so much enthusiasm for the performance that Hampton presented him with his pair of vibe mallets. Roy Ayers, who has died aged 84, would go on to blaze a trail as a vibraphonist, composer, singer and producer.

A genre-bending pioneer of hard bop, funk, neo-soul and acid jazz, Ayers was most famous for his feel-good track Everybody Loves the Sunshine, from the 1976 album of the same name.

He said that the song was recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York on, naturally, a warm summer’s day. Among those who feature are Debbie Darby (credited as “Chicas”) on vocals and Philip Woo on piano, electric piano and synthesizer. Woo explained that Ayers did not like to work from charts or scores, with the song based around a single chord that the band in the studio then developed.

While it was never released as a single, Everybody Loves the Sunshine’s warm, jazz-soul sound has won it numerous admirers over the past 50 years. As well as being sampled hundreds of times, by artists including Dr Dre and Mary J Blige, the track has also been covered by musicians ranging from D’Angelo to Jamie Cullen.

Perhaps the sheer simplicity of the song’s structure explains its appeal to such a variety of musicians. The hazy chords set up a steady state condition that allows the performer room for manoeuvre. D’Angelo covered the song in sweaty desire; Cullen’s Live in Ibiza version is as light and moreish as your favourite ice-cream; the Robert Glasper Experiment cover is edgy, an exercise in deconstruction. Other notable versions include the electronica-infused track from the DJ Cam Quartet and the modern jazz take of trumpeter Takuya Kuroda.

Ayers was born in the South Park (later South Central) district of Los Angeles, and grew up on Vermont Avenue amid the widely admired Central Avenue jazz scene during the 1940s and 50s, which attracted luminaries such as Eric Dolphy and Charles Mingus. His father, Roy Ayers Sr, worked as a parking attendant and played the trombone. His mother, Ruby, was a piano player and teacher.

He attended Thomas Jefferson high school, sang in the church choir, and played steel guitar and piano in a local band called the Latin Lyrics. He studied music theory at Los Angeles City College, but left before completing his studies to tour as a vibraphone – or vibes – sideman.

His first album, West Coast Vibes (1963), was produced by the British jazz musician and journalist Leonard Feather. He then teamed up with the flautist Herbie Mann, who produced the “groove” based sound of Virgo Vibes (1967) and Stoned Soul Picnic (1968).

Relocating to New York at the start of the 1970s, Ayers formed the jazz-funk ensemble Roy Ayers Ubiquity, recruiting a roster of around 14 musicians. At this time he composed and performed the soundtrack for the blaxploitation film Coffy (1973), starring Pam Grier as a vigilante nurse. The Everybody Loves the Sunshine album was released under the Ubiquity rubric, reaching No 51 on the US Billboard charts, but making no impact on the UK charts.

His 1978 single Get On Up, Get On Down, however, reached No 41 in the UK. He also scored chart success with Don’t Stop the Feeling (1979), which got to No 32 on the US RnB chart and 56 in the UK. The track was featured on the album No Stranger to Love, whose title track was sampled separately by MF Doom and Jill Scott.

Ayers was a regular performer at Ronnie Scott’s jazz club in London during the 80s and his shows there were captured on live albums. Other live recordings include Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival (1972) and Live from West Port Jazz Festival Hamburg (1999). Ayers played at the Glastonbury festival five times, with his last appearance there in 2019.

A tour of Nigeria with Fela Kuti in 1979, and a resulting album, Music of Many Colours (1980), was just one of many fruitful collaborations. Ayers also performed on Whitney Houston’s Love Will Save the Day (1988); with Rick James on Double Trouble (1992); and with Tyler, the Creator on Cherry Bomb (2015).

A soul-funk album, Roy Ayers JID002 (2020), was the brainchild of the producers Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad. The latter was a member of the hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest, who had sampled Ayers’ Running Away on their track Descriptions of a Fool (1989), and Roy Ayers Ubiquity’s 1974 song Feel Like Makin’ Love on Keep It Rollin’, from their 1993 Midnight Marauders album.

Ayers also collaborated with Erykah Badu on the singer’s second album, Mama’s Gun (2000). The pair recorded a new version of Everybody Loves the Sunshine for what would be Ayers’ final studio album, Mahogany Vibe (2004).

“If I didn’t have music I wouldn’t even want to be here,” Ayers told the Los Angeles Times. “It’s like an escape when there is no escape.”

Ayers married Argerie in 1973. She survives him, as do their children, Mtume and Ayana, a son, Nabil, from a relationship with Louise Braufman, and a granddaughter.

🔔 Roy Edward Ayers Jr, musician and band leader, born 10 September 1940; died 4 March 2025

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[eonszyn]

uhhhh oc content because i realized i have free will and can make an oc based off a vibraphone mallet if i wanted to. shes a jazz vibraphonist and a huge nerd and a big softie

[jazzdailyblog]

Bobby Hutcherson: Harmonic Alchemist of Jazz

Introduction: In jazz history, several figures emerge not only as brilliant instrumentalists but also as sound innovators who form the genre’s soul. Bobby Hutcherson, born eighty-three years ago today, on January 27, 1941, in Los Angeles, California, is one such luminary whose mastery of the vibraphone and marimba exceeded traditional limits, leaving an indelible mark on the landscape of modern…

[thesobsister]

Mary Halvorson, live with a sextet in 2022, performs "Night Shift." The trombonist and vibraphonist get the lion's share of the solo time here, but it's a great example of Halvorson's sound.

The vibist on this date, Patricia Brennan, had a new album come out in September, Breaking Stretch. Here's the leadoff tune, "Los Otros Yo." It's a banger.

[brothersperspectiveartvid]

Condolences: Roy Ayers (born September 10, 1940 – March 4, 2025) was an American vibraphonist #royayres

Roy Ayers (born September 10, 1940 – March 4, 2025) was an American vibraphonist, record producer and composer.[1] Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure at Polydor Records beginning in the 1970s, during which he helped pioneer jazz-funk.[2] He is a key figure in the acid jazz movement,[3] and has been described as “The…

[eartrumpet]

The haunting Gordon Jenkins composition Goodbye, rendered here by vibraphonist Milt Jackson. A magnificent piece. And also Benny Goodman's "definitive" version.

See also our post featuring Cal Tjader.

[demondmayhew016]

Roy Ayers, Vibraphonist Who Injected Soul Into Jazz, Dies at 84 - The New York Times

#RIP ROY AYERS 📽️💿🎼🌹💘👑🎤🙏✨

[projazznet]

Bobby Hutcherson – Happenings

Happenings is an album by the jazz vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, released in 1967 on the Blue Note label.

Bobby Hutcherson – vibraphone, marimba, drums Herbie Hancock – piano Bob Cranshaw – bass Joe Chambers – drums, marimba, triangle, timpani