Creativity Quote by Roy Ayers

Ayers is quietly dragging a whole bandstand hierarchy with one offhand contrast: the leader who barks “one, two, three, four” and then disappears into ego, versus the leader who stays inside the groove with everyone else. In jazz, funk, and soul contexts, “counting” isn’t just metronomic housekeeping; it’s a social contract. The count-in is where authority typically announces itself, then retreats behind charisma while the ensemble does the real-time labor of cohesion. Ayers frames that norm as oddly transactional: communication is permitted at the start and after the fact, like opening remarks and a postmortem, not during the living, risky middle.

His alternative - “I would count with them and talk” - signals a different kind of power. Not less control, but a more distributed one: guidance as accompaniment. “With them” matters. He’s describing leadership as continuous listening, micro-corrections, encouragement, and responsiveness, the kind of bandleading that treats musicians as collaborators rather than a backing track. It also hints at his stylistic world. Ayers’ signature sound lives in pocket, repetition, and subtle shifts; that music rewards a leader who can communicate feel in real time, not just execute charts.

The subtext is also about respect and labor. Session players and sidemen are often expected to intuit everything once the song starts, then get judged afterward. Ayers is admitting he won’t outsource that pressure. He’ll share the counting, the cues, the accountability - a small ethical stance disguised as rehearsal talk, and a blueprint for why his ensembles could sound both tight and human.