Review: Roy Ayers, Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad’s ‘Roy Ayers JID 002’

Humanity has a longstanding fascination with incorporating the latest technological developments into music. This interest is perhaps most evident in the history of sampling. In the 1940s, Pierre Schaeffer started producing sonic collages by splicing and manipulating sound recordings. His works formed the base of an experimental form known as musique concrète, an avant-garde progenitor to electronic music. It appealed to many outside of this area as well. By the 1960s, producers King Tubby and Lee “Scratch” Perry used pre-recorded samples of reggae rhythms. But with the emergence of hip hop in the 1970s, these approaches would come to the fore.  Heavily focused on turntablist techniques, hip hop took the world by storm over the ensuing years, including influencing nearly every other style it encountered. Those at the forefront of this movement frequently built songs out of pieces of those which came before, in the process often bringing more attention back to the original source material. However, it is relatively rare for the sampling artists to subsequently produce new compositions with their predecessors. Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad’s series attempts to rectify this oversight by showcasing new collaborations with some of history’s most sampled musicians. For JID 002 (Jazz is Dead, 2020), they do so with the legendary Roy Ayers. 

In many ways, Ayers is perfect for this type of project. Although nominally a “jazz” vibraphonist – Lionel Hampton gave him his first mallets – he has never confined himself to a particular type of music. After his early stints as a bebop sideman, he worked with flautist Herbie Mann, an artist who pulled heavily from both world and popular music. With the formation of his Ubiquity band in the early 1970s, he further began to encompass R&B and later disco. He also spent a month and a half touring Nigeria with Fela Kuti. Over time, his music would influence acid jazz and neo-soul to come, and his collaborators’ list continued to extend to include Rick James, Kerri Chandler, Masters at Work, Erykah Badu, and Tyler, The Creator. The diversity inherent in his art, along with his openness towards sampling, has made him one of the most sampled artists in history; over 708 recordings have utilized his prior works. 

Similarly, Younge and Muhammad are uniquely suited to the project. The former brings his unique perspective as both a producer and a law professor who has extensively studied the web of copyright complications related to sampling. The latter is one of the founders of the legendary alternative hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest, which forged its own path forward while remaining respectful of what came before. This includes “Description of a Fool” (Peoples Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, Jive Records, 1990) and “Keep It Rollin’” (Midnight Marauders, Jive Records, 1993) building off of Ubiquity’s “Running Away” and “Feel Like Makin’ Love” respectively. Together Younge and Muhammad have worked primarily with their genre-defying ensemble The Midnight Hour.

In the case of Roy Ayers JID 002, the musical eclectism of all three artists produces a recording that is indescribably both dated and dateless. Ayers’ work from the 1970s vigorously guides the majority of the album. The slow “Hey Lover” and the more up-tempo “Soulful and Unique” resonate with the sounds of the era, even as they incorporate contemporary developments. “Synchronized Vibration” perhaps best shows the decade’s influence as background vocals emphasizing the word “sunrise” meet synthesized strings, a swirling clavinet, and vibes. As a whole, it evokes a darker and lower-pitched version of the title track from his masterwork Everybody Loves the Sunshine (Polydor, 1976). 

But where Roy Ayers JID 002  truly shines is in the moments where it overtly ties earlier times into current trends.  This is best seen on its two standout tracks, “Shadows of the East” and “Solace.” Both wonderfully refuse to abandon their historical aesthetic underpinnings yet neither would seem out of place in the current London scene or on a release by beatmaker Makaya McCraven. Of particular note on both, as elsewhere, is the role of tenor saxophonist Wendell Harrison. The mixing of his part renders it to sound as though he is floating in a bubble, seemingly buoyed by the underlying funkiness even as he interacts with it. The effect suggests the spiritual recordings for which Harrison is known, or possibly Ethiojazz, while still fitting its surroundings far divorced from either. 

At a short 28 minutes, the release’s most significant shortcoming is its brevity. Fortunately, Ayers’ unique presentation rewards repeat listening. At times, like on “African Sounds,” his vibraphone’s presence is readily apparent. Most of the time, however, it seemingly lurks between other notes or beneath synthesizers. In no way is this to say his role downplayed. Instead, the more furtive approach ultimately keeps the pieces mysterious and interesting. 

The vibraphonist’s first studio album in almost two decades, Roy Ayers JID 002 incomparably straddles the line between retrospection and forethought. It is a fresh statement that we should consider re-evaluating what came before to find new paths forward. While further volumes of the Jazz is Dead series will focus on other artists – Gary Bartz, Brian Jackson, João Donato, Doug Carn, Azymuth, and Marcos Valle – this release creates a great blueprint for Younge and Muhammad’s explorations to come. 

JID 002 can now be purchased as a digital file, LP, or CD. It is also available as part of the Jazz is Dead subscription service which includes exclusive vinyl, merchandise, and other content.

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Tracklist: 1. Synchronized Vibration; 2. Hey Lover; 3. Soulful and Unique; 4. Shadows of the East; 5. Sunflowers; 6. Gravity; 7. Solace; 8. African Sounds

Personnel: Roy Ayers (vibraphone), Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad (Fender Rhodes, electric bass, monophonic synthesizers (1-4), Mellotron (1,4), Clavinet (1,8), electric guitar (2,5,8), flute (2), grand piano (4), alto saxophone (4)), Greg Paul (drums (1-7), percussion (3,5,7)), Wendell Harrison (tenor saxophone (4,5,7,8)), Phil Ranelin (trombone (4,5,7,8)), Elgin Clark (vocals (1-3,6)), Anitra Castleberry (vocals (1-3,6)), Loren Oden (vocals (1-3,6)), Joi Gilliam (vocals (1-3,6)), Saudia Yasmein (1-3,6)).