In February 2018, Roy Ayers performed four
sold out shows in Los Angeles as part of the
Jazz Is Dead Black History Month series. It
wasn't until 2020 that fans of Ayers discovered
that in addition to those shows, the legendary
vibraphone player had also recorded an entire
album of new material with Adrian Younge and
Ali Shaheed Muhammad.
Over the course of its eight original
compositions, written collaboratively by
Younge, Shaheed Muhammad & Ayers and
recorded at Younge's Linear Labs in Los
Angeles, the resulting album sounds both like
an unearthed an unreleased album from Ayers'
classic period in the 1970s (which produced the
oft-sampled "Red, Black & Green," "We Live In
Brooklyn, Baby," "Everybody Loves The
Sunshine," and "Running Away), as well as
something startling, new and unexpected.
Joining Ayers, Younge & Shaheed Muhammad
on this musical journey are drummer Greg Paul,
vocalists Loren Oden, Joy Gilliam, Saudia
Yasmein, Elgin Clark & Anitra Castleberry, as
well as Phil Ranelin & Wendell Harrison of the
legendary Spiritual Jazz label Tribe Records.
The 8 tracks on this album testify to the love not
only of a legendary musician's legacy, but to the
vitality & necessity of this music and these
sounds in the present era, a thread that will
likely run throughout all of the upcoming
releases from Jazz Is Dead Records.
