His high school, Thomas Jefferson High School, produced some of the most talented new musicians, such as Dexter Gordon. During high school, Ayers sang in the church choir and fronted a band named The Latin Lyrics, in which he played steel guitar and piano. Roy would likely have been exposed to music as it not only emanated from the many nightclubs and bars in the area, but also poured out of many of the homes where the musicians who kept the scene alive lived in and around Central. The schools he attended (Wadsworth Elementary, Nevins Middle School, and Thomas Jefferson High School) were all close to the famed Central Avenue, Los Angeles' equivalent of Harlem's Lenox Avenue and Chicago's State Street. ![]() The area of Los Angeles that Ayers grew up in, now known as " South Central" but then known as " South Park", was the epicenter of the Southern California Black music scene. ![]() At the age of five, he was given his first pair of vibraphone mallets by Lionel Hampton. Biography Early life Īyers was born in Los Angeles, California, and grew up in a musical family, where his father played trombone and his mother played piano.
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