Song of the Day 3/11: Roy Ayers, “Running Away”
Vibraphonist Roy Ayers, an oft-sampled pioneer of jazz-funk fusion, died last week at age 84. Ayers started out in the post-bop jazz scene in the early ’60s. His first LP, “West Coast Vibes,” was released in 1963. It included his version of this Thelonius Monk composition.
He teamed up with flutist Herbie Mann for a few albums, but as pure jazz faded away he adapted as well as anyone this side of Miles Davis. Ayers moved seamlessly into funk and from the mid-’70s through the mid-’80s reached the R&B and dance charts regularly, sometimes with his band Ubiquity. “Running Away” was a No. 19 R&B hit in 1977.
His influence extended into the rap era – by the early 2000s his songs were sampled more often than any other artist’s. He moved into production and became a sideman to a diverse panoply of artists, African music icon Fela Kuti, Whitney Houston and his friend Rick James among them. Many people consider his most-sampled tune, “Everybody Loves the Sunshine,” his signature song.
