Cosmic Jazz just has to acknowledge the work of Roy Ayers (10 September 1940 – 4 March 2025), a musician essential to our world for many years. But there’s more besides, with some varied, deep and engaging new jazz too.

1. Roy Ayers Ubiquity – Time & Space from A Tear To A Smile/Roy Ayers: A Shining Symbol

The word ‘essential’ is one that is probably overused to describe music, but for us at Cosmic Jazz and most likely our listeners too, it is a word we would use to describe the music of Roy Ayers, who died on 4 March 2025. This programme includes several tunes to remember and celebrate the music of Roy Ayers – vibraphonist, vocalist and jazz, funk and soul composer. The show opens with a number released on 1975 as a 7″ single with A Tear To A Smile on the other side. It is a laid-back, almost casual tune which illustrates the class of musician Roy Ayers worked with (more on this later). Dee Dee Bridgewater provides sultry, husky vocals and Bernard Purdie is on drums. As always, there is plenty of space throughout to hear Roy Ayers on the vibraphone.

2. Roy Ayers – A Rose For Cindy from Stoned Soul Picnic

The opening of this tune with its almost avant-garde sounds may not be the sort of music most associated with Roy Ayers. A Rose For Cindy  is a Roy Ayers composition  from the album Stoned Soul Picnic, described in the liner notes as Cool Jazz Vibes For A Hot Summer’s Day. The album was the second of three he recorded for Atlantic Records under the direction of Herbie Mann, whose band Ayers played for in the late 1960s. To further illustrate the point above about the status of the musicians he attracted, Ayers is accompanied here by Gary Bartz on alto sax, Charles Tolliver on trumpet and flugelhorn, Hubert Laws on flute, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass and Grady Tate on drums. There are solos from Ayers, Laws, Tolliver and Hancock. Again the liner notes, written by Charles Waring from Blues & Soul got it right: Its an eerie but spellbindingly beautiful piece of music.

3. Matthew Kilner – Haar from The  Space In Between

Thanks to some of our supporters, jazz from Scotland has featured regularly on Cosmic Jazz – indeed, jazz from Scotland has made its mark on the European jazz scene for some time. For this show, the selection comes from the label Birnam CD and more specifically the saxophonist  Matthew Kilner whose excellent new release The Space In Between is released on the label. Kilner is from Aberdeen in the North-East of Scotland and the area has provided a deep inspiration for all the tracks on the album. Matthew hopes the record will give an authentic account of the North-East of Scotland to those who have not experienced it. And to those who have. I hope you will gain some comfort in our shared experiences as those who have lived on our wee easterly pocket beside the cold North Sea. You can feel all of that in this tune. You can sense that coldness, even remoteness, but that is mixed with considerable beauty, delicacy and some interesting improvisations.

4. Nubya Garcia – The Seer from Odyssey

I am a convert. I have to admit that I have not always been sure about the music of saxophonist Nubya Garcia. That was changed for me by a February 2025 night in Amsterdam where we were among a large crowd that saw her perform at The Paradiso a superb converted church venue in the heart of the city, close to the Museum Quarter. This was one stop on an extensive tour of Europe and North America for Nubya Garcia and her Quartet. Garcia’s playing that night was impressive, as was her stage presence. There were several expressions of joy for the Odyssey tour, the playing and the audience. Playing on the album are some top musicians from the current British scene – Joe Armon-Jones, Daniel Casimir, Sheila Maurice Grey, Rosie Turton and Zoe McFarlane, as well as the Chineke Orchestra Strings, with vocals from Esperanza Spalding on the opening track. The Seer is a tough, heavy tune with the driving, powerful drums of Sam Jones much to the heart of things, as they were that night in Amsterdam.

5. Sun-Mi Hong – Meaning Of A Nest from Fourth Page: Meaning Of A Nest

We stay in Amsterdam, because that is where South Korean-born  drummer Sun-Mi Hong has resided for over the last decade. It was a bold move to make that long journey but it has paid off as she is now one of the rising stars of the European jazz scene. She played two days before I write this at The Bimhuis a wonderful nightly, sizeable but intimate, acoustically superb jazz venue close to Central Station in Amsterdam – do check it out if you are there. She has also been known to support and encourage young and up-and-coming musicians at the weekly Tuesday night jam sessions at The Bimhuis. Hong has a new album with her quintet Fourth Page: Meaning Of A Nest and released on the British label Edition Records. This is exciting music with much going on – complex, yet fun; deep yet at times almost whimsical; skilfully crafted and composed. I quote from Edition Records: Her music transcends borders, evoking a wide range of emotions and transporting listeners to a captivating sonic landscape. 

6. Sultan Stevenson – Purpose from El Roi

More from Edition Records, this time from an emerging piano talent – Sultan Stevenson and his trio of Jacob Gryn on bass and Joel Waters on drums from the album El Roi, (Hebrew for the Biblical God of Sight). Saxophonist Soweto Kinch and trumpet/flugelhorn player Josh Short appear as guests. The record is focused around the themes of identity and faith – and is an exercise both intellectual and accessible. On any level, the tune Purpose is simply beautiful, melodic and enriching. The music has a modern sounds but Stevenson acknowledges that his compositions are deeply influenced by jazz legends such as McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, Kenny Kirkland and Geri Allen. Stevenson provides a thoughtful and innovative voice for modern jazz.

7. Caroline Davis – Kites from Portals Returning Vol. 2

As co-presenters and co-compilers  of Cosmic Jazz Neil and I (Derek) usually agree on most of our choices. Derek’s selection of alto saxophonist Caroline Davis on a past show did not exactly fire Neil with enthusiasm, mainly because of the contribution from a rapper but Derek is keen to include another side of her album Portals Returning Vol. 2. This is a vocal track, a more easily accessible tune than some on the album. with Julia Esterlin providing the voice and lyrics by Caroline Davis, including the line Life is better when it doesn’t work. (Discuss?). Caroline Davis was born in Singapore but is based in New York. This album is in honour of her British grandmother Joan Anson-Weber, a poet. Caroline Davis combines her at times challenging and thought-provoking music with membership of an R’n’B band (Maitri) along with activism for social justice through, for example, Sisters in Jazz.

8. Nuyorican Soul – Roy’s Scat from Nuyorican Soul

We return to Roy Ayers via an album to which the word essential is entirely appropriate  for us at Cosmic Jazz. Nuyorican Soul is a mix of jazz, soul and Latin styles, produced by the Masters At Work crew – ‘Little’ Louie Vega and Kenny ‘Dope’ Gonzalez out of the US Nuyorican community. New York Latin musicians such as India, Luisito Quintero, Eddie Palmieri, Tito Puente and more appear on some tracks but it’s track 9 that features Roy Ayers providing scat vocals and vibes on the Vega/Gonzales composition Roy’s Scat. Ayers also provides vibes and vocals on a house-style take on his own tune Sweet Tears. His jazzy soul/funk fusion made him the perfect guest artist for an album that seamlessly blends a variety of sounds within a context of club culture. Roy’s Scat is one of the more laid-back selections on the record, with the liner notes suggesting that it harkens back to the relaxed optimistic noodling of Everybody Loves The Sunshine – and why not.

9. Roy Ayers Ubiqity – Running Away from vinyl single/The Best of Roy Ayers

I found Roy Ayers through the Robbie Vincent Soul Show on BBC Radio London which went out back in the day at Saturday lunchtimes. I am pretty sure the first Ayers tune I came across here was the jazz/funk/disco feeling club classic Running Away released in 1977 and written by Edwin Birdsong and Roy Ayers. Charged with a constant driving beat, the cheerful soul sister call and response style from a female quintet chanting Dippy-do Run, Run, Run and a groove that means you cannot keep still and have to groove along. What a tune! It sounds as fresh as ever and is surely still capable of filling dancefloors the world over. What is more, Roy Ayers, as so often in the ‘club’ tunes has not forgotten his jazz roots. His voice,  never that of a powerful soul belter, has a relaxed, jazzy feel, just the perfect complement to the ‘choir’ and his vibes solo provides an improvisatory jazz break over the disco beat.

10. Roy Ayers Ubiquity – He’s A Superstar from He’s Coming/Shining Symbol/Sunday Afternoon At Dingwalls

In the early 1970s Roy Ayers formed his own band Roy Ayers Ubiquity, a name chosen because it means a state of being everywhere at the same time. Members included Bernard Purdie, Edwin Birdsong and Harry Whitaker – the latter so much beloved and played by us for his work with Black Renaissance. Ubiquity were the ultimate in jazz/soul/funk fusion and brought Roy Ayers to the attention of club scenes, including the famous Gilles Peterson/Patrick Forge Sunday afternoons at Dingwall in Camden, North London. He’s A Superstar comes from the 1972 album He’s Coming and was inspired by the musical Jesus Christ Superstar. The album also includes one of our perennial favourites We Live in Brooklyn Baby. Harry Whitaker provides swirling lead on keyboards and Billy Cobham drives an incessant beat on drums while Roy Ayers invokes us to believe in something before it’s too late.

More from Cosmic Jazz soon.

Neil is listening to…

• Roy Ayers – The Black Five
• Roy Ayers – In a Silent Way (live at Montreux)
• RAMP – Everybody Loves the Sunshine
• Ella Fitzgerald – Alfie (live at the Coliseum)
• Nubya Garcia – Pace (Moses Boyd remix)