Roy Ayers - Destination Motherland-The Roy Ayers Anthology (2003)

Tracklist


CD ONE

1. Roy Ayers - We Live in Brooklyn, Baby (3:45)
2. Roy Ayers - Coffy is the Color (3:00)
3. Roy Ayers - Love from the Sun (2:43)
4. Roy Ayers - Sweet Tears (3:35)
5. Roy Ayers - Red, Black & Green (4:38)
6. Roy Ayers - Pretty Brown Skin (5:37)
7. Roy Ayers - The Boogie Back (4:38)
8. Roy Ayers - A Tear to a Smile (5:40)
9. Roy Ayers - The Old One Two (3:37)
10. Roy Ayers - Life Is Just a Moment (Part 2) (2:33)
11. Roy Ayers - Time and Space (4:06)
12. Roy Ayers - The Black Five (3:58)
13. Roy Ayers - Everybody Loves the Sunshine (3:59)
14. Roy Ayers - The Memory (4:32)
15. Roy Ayers - Hey Uh What You Say Come On (3:46)
16. Roy Ayers - Running Away (6:58)
17. Roy Ayers - Searching (4:09)
18. Roy Ayers - Baby You Give Me a Feeling (3:03)

CD TWO

1. Roy Ayers - The Third Eye (6:20)
2. Roy Ayers - Everytime I See You (3:39)
3. Roy Ayers - Sweet Tears (Disco Version) (6:44)
4. Roy Ayers - Can't You See Me 12' (6:55)
5. Roy Ayers - No Deposits, No Returns (2:43)
6. Roy Ayers - Love Will Bring Us Back Together Again (5:57)
7. Roy Ayers - Fever (5:48)
8. Roy Ayers - What You Won't Do for Love (5:52)
9. Roy Ayers - Thank You Thank You (4:27)
10. Roy Ayers - Rock Your Roll (6:32)
11. Roy Ayers - Motherland Intro - Africa Centre of the World (0:55)
12. Roy Ayers - Africa, Centre of the World (Kuti) (4:31)
13. Roy Ayers - Destination Motherland (4:52)
14. Roy Ayers - Land of Fruit and Honey (5:22)
15. Roy Ayers - Our Time Is Coming (5:40)

Destination Motherland is a two-CD, 33-track compilation of Roy Ayers' classics from the Polydor years -- 1971-1981. Issued in the U.K., it replaces, in a sense, the retrospective Evolution: The Polydor Anthology issued in 1995 with a slightly bigger, more club-intense selection, as well as improved sound. Ayers was a politician of hip when it came to cultural mores and trends, and his tunes reflect his penchant for strutting and blurring the edges of jazz, funk, soul, and disco. He handpicked this set for Universal UK and as such, he tilts his choices toward the club set who rediscovered his work in the late 1990s. The jazzy grooves here bleed into tough disco, and silky R&B cuts into political funk and roll. While there isn't a dud in the whole lot, some of the true standouts are: "Running Away," "Searching," "Coffy Is the Color," "Red, Black and Green," "No Deposits, No Returns," "The Third Eye," "Sweet Tears [Disco Version]," "Africa, Center of the World," "Destination Motherland," "Fever"; a 12" mix of "Can't You See Me," and "Everybody Loves the Sunshine." ~Thom Jurek