Artist: Roy Ayers

Roy Ayers (born September 10, 1940) is an American funk, soul, and jazz  composer,  vibraphone player, and  record producer. 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, and has been dubbed "The Godfather of Neo Soul". He is best known for his compositions "Everybody Loves the Sunshine", "Searchin", and "Running Away". At one time, he was said to have more sampled hits by rappers than any other artist.  

Ayers started recording as a bebop sideman in 1962 and rose to prominence when he dropped out of City College and joined jazz flautist Herbie Mann in 1966. In the early 1970s, he started his own band called Roy Ayers Ubiquity, a name he chose because ubiquity means a state of being everywhere at the same time.

 Ayers was responsible for the highly regarded soundtrack to Jack Hill's 1973  blaxploitation film  Coffy, which starred Pam Grier. He later moved from a jazz-funk sound to R&B, as seen on Mystic Voyage, which featured the songs "Evolution" and the underground disco hit "Brother Green (The Disco King)", as well as the title track from his 1976 album Everybody Loves the Sunshine. 

In late 1979, Ayers scored his only top ten single on Billboard's Hot Disco/Dance chart with "Don't Stop The Feeling", which was also the leadoff single from his 1980 album No Stranger to Love, whose title track was sampled in Jill Scott's 2001 song "Watching Me" from her debut album Who Is Jill Scott?