Ice - Each Man Makes His Destiny (1974/2019) [Hi-Res]

“We did the first record in early ’73 under the name of Ice, Each Man Makes His Own Destiny, which didn’t sell at all,” says French producer Pierre Jaubert, referring to the group of six American musicians in Paris. After recording an album with the Bobby Boyd Congress—and singer Boyd returned home to America—the band stuck around and tried to figure out what to do next.

“I knew fairly well that they had a problem on vocals,” Jaubert continues. “Arthur Young was not a good singer—he is a great musician, but singing was not his thing. Around this time, Manu Dibango had released Soul Makossa in ’72. As the guys were talented, I thought it was a good idea to re-do the instrumentals for Soul Makossa; it also being a good opportunity to do an entirely instrumental album.

“I created the name Lafayette Afro Rock Band. I had some experience in the domain and knew that we needed a complicated name in order for it to be registered. Anyway, I got the idea for this name using Lafayette Hudson’s first name—the bassist of the group—and called him explaining that there was now a group called the Lafayette Afro Rock Band. We made Soul Makossa, and Malik right after.”

Lafayette Hudson, bass
Larry Jones, guitar, vocals
Donny Donable, drums
Keno Speller, percussion, bongos
Frank Abel, piano, organ, vocals
Arthur Young, trumpet, flute, vocals
Ronnie James, trumpet, vocals

Digitally remastered