Repress!

Taken from his 'You Might Be Surprised' album from 1985 and produced by James Mtume with additional help from Tawatha & Philip Fields (of Aurra & Mtume) as well as David Frank (of The System), this 12 inch has long been sought after by Roy Ayers fans with the release changing hands for over £100 regularly on Discogs.

This mid tempo joint with forward thinking lyrics, a great 808 beat and beautiful chords is sophisticated, yet hood. Reissued for the first time, don't miss this opportunity to own this slice of mid 80's Roy Ayers. More

With both tracks now coming out for the first time on 7" vinyl, the Liquid Love and What's The T? 7” single is a must get for all Roy Ayers fans and serious music collectors, not least as 2023 witnesses Roy's final ever tour of live dates. This release is a fitting tribute to the career of one of the most influential musicians in global Black music history and each track represents his virtuosity as a vibesman and his versatility across genres.

Liquid Love is taken from the 2015 BBE released album of Roy's unreleased material, Virgin Ubiquity II, and is a wicked mid-tempo track where Roy's vibraphone complements an amazing female vocal arrangement to create harmonies and melody over a tough as you like breakbeat, bass line and keyboard riff.

Coming from the 2004 initial release in the Virgin Ubiquity series of unreleased Roy Ayer's tracks, What's The T? is a more uptempo, bassline driven slab of dance floor funk. Augmented by a horn section and a huge female vocal from Merry Clayton over a hi-hat drumbeat, What's The T? is Roy Ayers and his musicians playing Roy's arrangements to perfection.

Releasing on BBE Music's ALIM imprint, Liquid Love/What's The T? 7" vinyl single issue is two musical moments in time now presented as a moment in history in the year we celebrate the excellent career and legacy of Roy Ayers as a touring musician. This is Roy at his best as musician, arranger and artist, grab this now. More

BBE Music is excited to present the first repress since 2006 of Roy Ayers classic Virgin Ubiquity albums, with brand new sleeve notes by Sean P.

When two volumes of previously unreleased Roy Ayers tapes entitled ‘Virgin Ubiquity’ hit the racks courtesy of BBE in 2004/5, it was a little mystifying as to why these recordings had remained in the can for so long. The 2000s are a time when bonus tracks, particularly on re-issues, are commonplace and demos, concerts, broadcasts and other audio of historical interest augment (and sometimes simply pad out) many ‘deluxe’ editions.

At the beginning of the millennium few of Roy’s ’70s and ’80s albums were available on compact disc, a format which facilitated extra material due to its longer playing time – and even when the rest of Roy’s ’70s albums made it to CD, nothing recently unearthed was included – although there was a taster in the form of the instrumental ‘Party Sex’, whose release had been shelved until 1995. A proper trawl through the archives was clearly overdue; Peter Adarkwah met with Roy and sifting through the unused sessions began, with the chosen tracks transferred and sent to New York based engineers John Hopkins and Jamey Staub to mix.

Vinyl Track List:
A1 Holiday
A2 Kwajilori
B1 I Am Your Mind (Part 2)
B2 I Like The Way You Do It To Me
C1 Third Time
C2 Touch Of Class
D1 Release Yourself
D2 Come To Me
E1 Wide Open
E2 Funk In The Hole
F1 Liquid Love
F2 Tarzan
F3 Sunshine (Demo) More

BBE Music continues its long and fertile partnership with vibraphone legend and godfather of neo-soul, Roy Ayers, with the first ever reissue of his 1983 album Silver Vibrations.

Originally released in the UK only on Uno Melodic Records, ‘Silver Vibrations’ shares some of its musical DNA with ‘Lots Of Love’, Ayers’ US album from the same year. However, ‘Silver Vibrations’ contains four unique cuts all of its own, plus extended takes of three songs, including the definitive version of iconic song ‘Chicago’. The rarity of the original pressing has led to eye-watering second-hand prices for this truly brilliant LP.

‘Silver Vibrations’ was perhaps the last album to retain the sound of Ayers’ organic ‘classic’ period of the latter ’70s and manages to stand up well under its current re-evaluation. “Chicago”, the unedited version of which is exclusive to this L.P., received considerable airplay in its time and has barely faded from earshot ever since;

its woozy, mysterious vibe and cosmic ruminations from Roy in the second half have certainly endured. The strutting, funky “Good, Good Music” echoes Ayers at his pre-’80s, up- tempo disco peak, sporting a grittier edge and an old-school party atmosphere. Title track “Silver Vibrations” was only ever released in the U.K., both on this album and as a single, backed with “Fast Money”. Both “Lots Of Love” and “Keep On Movin'” hark back to previous times and are a pleasant listen without being at all taxing. “Smiling With Our Eyes” is mid- tempo, lilting and jazzy, with a vocal vaguely reminiscent of Stevie Wonder in places. The wistful “D.C. City”, a close companion of Ubiquity’s original recording of “The Third Eye” is, in many ways, quintessentially Roy Ayers.

Pressed on heavyweight vinyl with original artwork and new sleeve notes written by Sean P., BBE Music is delighted to share this special album with a new generation of fans. More

For those of you still playing catch-up, the UK has a new star of electronic music… and yes; he's the one in the dinosaur suit and the headdress. From the early recognition for his debut releases on the Greco-Roman label (run by Joe Goddard), Orlando (aka TEED) has been on a one man mission to share his unique take on dance music – and it's been going rather well of late. From joining forces with Friendly Fires on-stage at Bestival last summer to being invited out to the Congo by Damon Albarn to record an album for Warp, Orlando has been gradually ascending his way to the top, all the while following his own path.

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