This week's Funk CDs reviewed

LAFAYETTE AFRO-ROCK BAND
Darkest Light: The Best of Lafayette Afro-Rock BandStrut ****

The Lafayette Afro Rock Band were a bunch of Long Island funk-rockers who decamped to Paris in the early 1970s because they reckoned there would be less competition in the French capital for gigs. Although they became the house band at the Parisound studio and obviously found enough work to keep themselves in flares, they never attained the same critical acclaim as their US peers until after their disbandment, when they were sampled by Jay-Z, Wu-Tang Clan, De La Soul, Digital Underground and many others. Producers seeking heavyweight funk breaks always knew that they would find what they were looking for in the Lafayette back-catalogue. Aside from rounding up the best of those funky cuts (the title track alone will knock you for six), the tracks the band recorded as Ice, Captain Dax and Crispy Co are also included. www.strut-records.com  JIM CARROLL
Download tracks: Darkest Light, Soul Makossa