“Just bees, and things and flowers”
Like a lot of formerly news-hungry journalists these days I can hardly bear to open the many journals I subscribe to. But today I read last week’s FT Life of a Song. And Roy Ayers Sunshine blew Trump thunderstorms away.
At the end of the piece, filled with enticing links and references, the author, Arwa Haider, invites readers to share memories of the song in the comments section. So I did. Or tried to. Sadly, by the time I felt ready to post my priceless reflections, ‘comments on this story are now closed’.
But I’m going to share them anyway because memories of 81-year-old Roy Ayers filling the Liquid Rooms in Edinburgh are so uplifting. So much brighter than the headlines in my news feed. Real life, the kind that is worth living. Perhaps you were there too?
I like that happy feeling all of the time, so that ingredient is still there. I try to generate that because it’s the natural way I am. (Roy Ayers via Wikipedia)
A wish fulfilled
I loved Roy Ayers – his vibraphone, his voice, his human kindness – I had long nurtured a wish to see him perform live. But life kept getting in the way, and my sons’ gift with tickets for a show was postponed several times by Covid, by illness, by other interruptions, but my wish was finally fulfilled on a warm night in Edinburgh three years ago.
In 2022 we were still quite newly released from lockdown. I remember feeling a little nervous about being in the crowded Liquid Rooms (hoping the ventilation was as good as the sound system ) but Roy Ayers blew all anxiety away. He was helped on to the stage (by his wife) but seemed to regain strength as he sang and played. The vibraphone solos and the immaculate, infectious beat of his band Ubiquity got the room dancing. And his Sunshine was unforgettable – it was such a gloriously happy performance with many encores. Best of all, he was clearly enjoying it all as much as the crowd.
“If I didn’t have music I wouldn’t even want to be here,” Ayers told the Los Angeles Times. “It’s like an escape when there is no escape.” Guardian obituary
Thank you to Roy Ayers who died in March 2025 and to Arwa Haidor for stimulating good memories. And, by the way, your comments are welcome.
Ayers was a recipient of the Congress of Racial Equality Lifetime Achievement Award
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