Roy Ayers

American jazz funk pioneer, Ubiquity band leader and vibraphonist Roy Ayers, famed for his Southern Californian 1976 anthem, "Everybody Loves the Sunshine", has earned his place amongst the musical greats. Now, aged 80, he heads out for one last time on his "Final Farewell Tour".

Roy Ayers started his career in the 1960s joining the touring band of legendary jazz flautist Herbie Mann. After going solo in the early 1970s he has released over 30 albums, composed the soundtrack for 'Coffy', a 1973 Blaxploitation film starring Pam Grier, toured and recorded with Fela Kuti, produced and released artists such as RAMP, Sylvia Striplin, Bobbi Humphrey, Eighties Ladies and is cited as a major influence by Pharrell Williams and Erykah Badu.

Roy Ayers Ubiquity's seminal 1975 album 'Mystic Voyage - recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York - has been sampled countless times in Hip Hop over the years and was one of the foundations of the burgeoning Jazz-Funk scene which developed in the mid to late 1970s.