Roy Ayers - Daddy Bug

ROY AYERS
Daddy Bug
Atlantic SD1538

Recorded 1969

1. Daddy Bug
2. Bonita
3. This Guy's In Love With You
4. I Love You Michelle
5. Shadows
6. Emmie
7. Look To The Sky
8. It Could Only Happen To You

PERSONNEL

ROY AYERS; vibraphone
HERBIE HANCOCK; piano
BUSTER WILLIAMS; bass
MICKEY ROCCA; drums
RON CARTER; bass (3, 4, 6 and 7)
FREDDY WAITS; drums (3, 4 and 7)
SONNY SHARROCK (!); guitar (6)
BRUNO CARR; drums (6)

As I was preparing to write this review tonight, I was racking my brains desparately trying to remember the name of the TV show to which 'Daddy Bug', the lead track here, was the theme. A bit of research has led me to conclude that it wasn't the theme to anything, but it sounds so soundtrack-ish that I think I could be forgiven my mistake. The highlight of the album, it comes on in a 60's spy-movie style. It's impossible to listen to without imagining Michael Caine or someone similar being chased through the streets of Paris by men in trilbys and overcoats.

As i've said, it's the highlight of the album - despite being full of excellent talent (Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Sonny Sharrock) there's not a lot else to write home about. Most of the other tracks are ballads, with the take on 'This Guy's In Love With You' being particularly dull. 'Emmie' is notable for featuring pioneering free-jazz guitarist Sonny Sharrock, but Sharrock fans will be dissapointed to hear him take a conventional supportive role. No 'shards of glass' here.

Ayers would go on to greater things with the jazz-funk of his 'Ubiquity' in the 1970s, but this album shows that before then he was a competent, blues-based vibist with some very influential friends, even if he didn't have the tunes to match. That's the problem - great talent, but no-one's stretched by the material so the performances just don't gel.