Light of the World (band)

Light of the World were a British jazz-funk band.[1]

Biography

Originally a forerunner of the late 1970s/early 1980s British jazz-funk movement, the band's name is taken from the 1974 Kool and the Gang album, Light of Worlds.[1][2] The band was formed by Breeze McKrieth, Kenny Wellington, Paul Williams, and David Baptiste in 1974. They were then joined by percussionist Chris Etienne (Died 1978), Peter Hinds on keyboard, Jean Paul Maunick on guitar, and drummer Everton McCalla.After performing many shows throughout the United Kingdom the band recorded some demo tracks. After being played in a few clubs by DJ Tom Holland, the tracks were heard by fellow DJ Chris Hill who was also a co partner for Ensign Records along with Nigel Grainge. The band were given a recording contract and recorded their debut album Light of the World.

In 1979 after the death of Chris Etienne and the departure of Jean Paul Maunick before the release of the debut album, they recruited 2 new members Nat Augustin and Gee Bello. McKreith, Wellington and Baptiste also formed the offshoot band Beggar & Co. Maunick and Williams also formed the band Incognito. This line up gelled very well and they recorded their most popular album, Round Trip, with producer Augie Johnson of the group Side Effect as producer.

Between 1982 and 1999 the band appeared in various configurations of this line up, also the profile of the band remained high, due in part to the media presence of the brass section consisting of, David Baptiste, Kenny Wellington and Nat Augustin, who had become in demand studio players for some very high profile bands, appearing on recordings by popular bands such as, Spandau Ballet, Ultravox, Heaven 17, Wham and also touring with artists such as The Jam, Gabrielle and Boy George. During this period, Mel Gaynor, the drummer that toured in place of Everton McCalla joined the rock band Simple Minds as a permanent member. After the initial split of the band Wellington, McKrieth and Baptiste granted permission for Gee Bello and Nat Augustin to use the name Light of the World allowing them to secure a new recording contract with EMI Records .Bello, Augustin joined by Paul Williams who had split from Incognito after the initial album, recorded an album for EMI called Check Us Out which yielded the popular track No 1 Girl.

Shortly after this point Light Of The World became dormant with Nat Augustin and Gee Bello now making solo recordings. Gee Bello recorded a seft titled album produced by Lonnie Simmons in the USA with the popular track Save Your Love and International Lover which was released on Capitol Records. Nat Augustin had some success in Europe with a single called Ego. Nat Augustin also joined the group Imagination and took part in the recording, Fascination of the Physical. In 1985 Wellington and McKrieth took part in a remix of the tracks Time and London Town and briefly reunited the band with a televised appearance on the new UK version of Soul Train performing London Town 85, with the original now becoming a well loved and classic track.

In 1999 Wellington, McKrieth, Baptiste and Augustin recorded an album produced by Richard Bull and Kenny Wellington. Paul Williams was living in Holland and pursued his career in Europe as a music producer. This album was called Inner Voices. By 2002 only Bello and Augustin remained and were joined by drummer Mel Gaynor who had previously played on live performances after the departure in 1981 of Everton McCalla. In 2009 Gee Bello released an album called Unreleased Boogie Tracks on Boogie Time Records. In 2012 Wellington, McKrieth and Baptiste released an album called Sleeping Giants as Beggar & Co featuring The Funk Jazz Collective. This album reached Number 1 in Bestsellers in Acid Jazz and Number 1 in Bestsellers in Classic R n B on Amazon.Com in the USA and various chart positions on the Amazon Bestsellers sites in both Europe and Japan.

Since 2016 Breeze McKrieth, Kenny Wellington, David Baptiste and Peter Hinds have joined together with Paul McLean and Patrick McLean original members of the band Hi Tension and formed a new band The Brit Funk Association. As well as performing their joint repertoire in concerts and festivals they released a new studio album called 'Full Circle' in 2017 on Expansion Records. The album went to Number 6 in the Amazon Popular Music chart and Number 1 in both R and B and Funk. The album also entered the Top 10 of most genre charts around Europe, as well as reaching the Top 50 of the Amazon R and B Charts in the USA. The album also appeared in the Top 20 of the iTunes R and B chart and was also Number 1 in The Sweet Rhythms chart in the UK. The Brit Funk Association continue to record and release new material with a second album due in Autumn 2019.In 2016 Kenny Wellington released a solo album called Free Spirit on Expansion Records which peaked at Number 8 on The Bestsellers in Jazz albums on Amazon with the track Heading home hitting the Number 1 position in Bestsellers in Jazz songs.

In 2020 The Brit Funk Association took part in the BBC documentary Rodney P's Jazz Funk as part of the creative artists, dancers, dj's and musicians talking about the history of jazzfunk in this country and the impact on youth culture and the advent of what became known as britfunk. Kenny Wellington also released an EP, Lock It Down consisting of 5 tracks which reached Number 1 in the Amazon Bestsellers in Jazz chart and peaked at Number 18 in Bestsellers in Albums as well as being a featured track of the week on the radio station Jazz FM

Light Of The World featuring Gee Bello, Nat Augustin and Mel Gaynor released an EP on August 7 2020 called "Temperatures Rising' which reached Number 1 on Amazon Hot Releases in R and B chart.

Discography

Albums
  • Light of the World (Ensign 1979)
  • Round Trip (Ensign 1980) – UK No. 73[3]
  • Remixed (Mercury 1981)
  • Check Us Out (EMI 1982)
  • Inner Voices (Sanctuary 1999)

Singles
  • "Swingin'" (Ensign 12" 1979) – UK No. 45
  • "Midnight Groovin'" (Ensign 12" 1979) – UK No. 72
  • "The Boys in Blue" (Ensign 12" 1980)
  • "This Is This" (Ensign 12" 1980)
  • "London Town" (Ensign 12" 1980) – UK No. 41
  • "Pete's Crusade" (Ensign 12" 1980)
  • "I Shot The Sheriff" (Ensign 12" 1980) – UK No. 40
  • "Time" (Mercury 12" Remix 1980)
  • "I'm So Happy" / "Time" (Mercury 12" 1981) – UK No. 35
  • "Somebody Help Me Out" (Ensign Records 1981) by Beggar & Co – UK No. 15
  • "Mule Chant No.2" (RCA 1981) by Beggar & Co – UK # 27
  • "Ride The Love Train" (EMI 1981) – UK No. 49
  • "No. 1 Girl" (EMI 12" 1982)
  • "Keep The Dream Alive" (1990)
  • "Expansions" (Ensign 1992)
  • "Got To Get Your Own" (Ensign 1992)
  • "City Life" (Sanctuary 1999)
  • "Slow Down" (Sanctuary 1999)[3]

References
  1. Simpson, Dave (8 August 2009). "Music - The scenes that time forgot". theguardian.com. The Guardian.
  2. Lester, Paul (5 February 2014). "10 of the best: Britfunk". theguardian.com. The Guardian.
  3. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 321. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
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