Roy Ayers

American funk, soul, and jazz composer, vibraphone player, and music producer, Roy Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure at Polydor Records beginning in the 1970s, during which he helped pioneer jazz-funk. He is a key figure in the acid jazz movement, which is a mixture of jazz into hip-hop and funk, and has been dubbed by many as “The Godfather of Neo Soul”. He is most well known for his signature compositions “Everybody Loves The Sunshine” and “Searchin”, but his biggest hit in the States, U.K. & Europe was “Running Away”—an absolute sublime, killer slice of hard Jazz Funk and is also famous for having more sampled hits by rappers than any other artist.