06-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Roy Ayers, a jazz legend who influenced hip-hop and R&B musicians, dies at 84
His music never went out of style, appearing in the 2019 'Queen & Slim: The Soundtrack.' His song 'Running Away' propelled A Tribe Called Quest's 1989 opus 'Description of a Fool,' and the song was sampled by Big Daddy Kane and Common. Ayers was heard on Tyler, the Creator's album 'Cherry Bomb' and Erykah Badu's 'Mama's Gun.'
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'Well, I have more sampled hits than anybody,' he said in a 2004 interview with Wax Poetics magazine. 'I might not have more samples than James Brown, but I've had more sampled hits. Oh, man, and there's a few I don't know about.'
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One of Ayers' most popular albums was 'Lifeline,' which peaked at No. 9 on what has become the Top R&B/Hip-hop chart in 1977 and contained the hit 'Running Away,' which peaked at No. 19 on the R&B chart and became a massive club hit.
During a visit to Johannesburg in 2017, Ayers offered some rhythmic advice for youth in the city's Soweto area: Get serious, be inspired, rap on, keep on and 'eventually you'll get it.'
'You guys, you have to pick your plateau. Get serious about everything,' said Ayers. He also named a few musicians who have inspired him: Nigerian Fela Kuti ('he was really like a genius'), Herbie Mann ('he taught me the business') and Miles Davis ('He was the coolest. He was the grandmaster. He was out of sight').
After debuting on record with hard bop tenor saxophonist Curtis Amy's group in 1962, he teamed with jazz flutist Mann to record three albums for Atlantic Records — 'Virgo Vibes,' 'Stoned Soul Picnic' and 'Daddy Bug' — and wrote and produced the soundtrack for the blaxploitation film 'Coffy' starring Pam Grier. He also moved on to work with David 'Fathead' Newman, the tenor mainstay of Ray Charles' great '60s orchestra.
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In 2017, he appeared alongside such acts as Tom Petty, the Shins, Alabama Shakes, Charles Bradley and William Bell at the eclectic Arroyo Seco Festival in Los Angeles.
Ayers is survived by his wife Argerie, and their children Mtume and Ayana Ayers.
