Virgo Red

Despite stellar contributions from soul-jazz luminaries Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jimmy Owens, and Garnett Brown, Virgo Red stands as Roy Ayers' most intimate and refined Ubiquity offering. Sinuous funk grooves anchor the album, built on the magnetic interplay between Ayers' vibes and keyboardist Harry Whitaker's Fender Rhodes—his fills dancing around Ayers' solos like celestial bodies in orbit. The tracklist weaves together soulful originals and audacious covers: from Leroy Hutson's "Giving Love" to Stories' "Brother Louie" to The Poseidon Adventure's "The Morning After." An unlikely combination that somehow transcends expectation, unified by the astrological mystique that permeates every groove.