In The Dark (bonus Tracks Edition) [CD], Roy Ayers, CD

Digitally remastered and expanded edition including three bonus tracks. In The Dark was produced by Stanley Clarke in 1984. With Grover Washington and Tom Browne as the main horn players the album is about the perfect mix of slick mid-'80s boogie funk and the kind of jazz-funk Roy pioneered a decade earlier on the title song,"Sexy, Sexy, Sexy" and the late in the day disco-funk of "Compadre". "I Can't Help It" is a mild vibe led ballad. But the most potent track is "Goree Island", a sizzling electronic afro-funk number celebrating the rooted futurism of the jazz-funk genre itself. It's got the African polyrhythms down pat but also this '80s electro/boogie funk production too. On the more obvious deep '80s funk of "Poo Poo La La" Roy himself raps a bit about his desire for a lover who'll truly understand a musicians lifestyle and not take it personally.