Darkest Light: Best Of The Lafayette Afro-Rock Band CD - Import

The American-bred, Paris-based Lafayette Afro-Rock Band holds a classic status among rare groove collectors and DJs; samples from their 1970s recordings have appeared in countless hip-hop and R&B tunes. Yet the Lafayette Afro-Rock band was a vital creative unit in the `70s, as DARKEST LIGHT: THE BEST OF THE LAFAYETTE AFRO-ROCK BAND proves. With superb musicianship, fierce grooves, and a cross-genre approach that folded in funk, rock, soul, psychedelia, and ample doses of Afro-beat, the Lafayette Afro-Rock Band deserve a higher assignment in the canon of `70s funk acts.

The name may not be familiar, but the Lafayette Afro Rock Band's grooves certainly are. A veritable sampler's paradise, snippets of their hip-hugger-tight funk have served as the bedrock of innumerable rap records, most notably Public Enemy's "Show 'Em Whatcha Got." Darkest Light assembles 15 tracks from the group's mid-'70s heyday, revealing a deep, versatile unit truly justified in adopting such an international name -- their music indeed embraces both Afrobeat and Western psychedelia in equal measure, complete with hard-edged guitar riffs, incendiary sax breaks, and blistering rhythms. Although the title track inspired Public Enemy, "Hihache" also features a much-sampled drum intro and the relentless "Conga" later resurfaced on a volume of the Ultimate Breaks & Beats series. But to break this music down to its base elements is to do the greater whole a grave disservice -- Darkest Light merits discussion alongside any of the great documents of classic funk. [This 2009 reissue of the CD shuffles the order of the tracks and replaces the songs "Gap" and "Red Matchbox" with "There's Time to Change" and "Time Will Tell."] ~ Jason Ankeny

Personnel: Larry Lee Jones (guitar).

Recording information: Chateau D'Herouville Studios; Parisound, Paris, France.

Spin (p.81) - "[T]he searchlight saxophone intro to 'Darkest Light' has become a holy grail of sampling..."
Record Collector (magazine) (p.98) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Lafayette tracks such as 'Congo' and panoramic 'Hichache' are uplifting Afro-jazz exercises with funky, percussion-heavy undertow and towering brass arrangements."