Über-producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad put A Tribe Called Quest in the hip-hop hall of fame by way of extensive beat-mining of many 1970s jazz-fusion heroes, and Roy Ayers was a 24-carat candidate. Launching a new label, Jazz Is Dead (recalling ATCQ's irreverent peers De la Soul's re-inventive De La Sou¡ Is Dead) in collaboration with producer Adrian Younge, Muhammad could not have done better than to make the legendary vibraphonist one of his initial signings. At his recent appearances in the UK, Ayers was reportedly a touch frail, but the octogenarian's performance here shows that he still has the requisite musical fire to make a session worth the time of day. Basically this is very much in the mould of classic mid 1970s Ubiquity, though there is nothing to quite match the anthems he produced during the highpoint of that magical band. Some of the tracks would benefit from the input of more horns and a heavier percussive foundation but Muhammad, Younge, Ayers and several impressive vocalists nonetheless make this a mystic voyage with a lot of soul.