To a generation of 1980s clubgoers, drummer Norman Connors is one of the archetypal jazz-funk heroes whose Starship Orchestra had the kind of slickly produced sound that was in line with that of Roy Ayers, Ronnie Laws and Lonnie Liston Smith.

But few fans were probably aware of the music Connors had made at the beginning of the 1970s, which was heavy, to say the least. A sideman to the likes of Archie Shepp and Pharoah Sanders, Connors moved in avant-garde circles, as Dance Of Magic (here remastered by Cecily Baston at Air) makes clear.

The density of the music – big, bulging double bass lines, torrid African, Latin and western percussion, mighty horn section – clearly betrays the influence of his mentors. Tellingly, Sanders’ stupendous Black Unity was recorded in the same year, 1972, and, with a partial overlap of personnel, the two albums are very much sonic cousins. Dance of Magic’s 20-minute title track, with its click-clack balaphone, whirl of polyrhythms and cracking solos, from Herbie Hancock, among others, really sets the tone, while ‘Morning Change’ is a svelte mid-tempo samba glowing with Rhodes chords, and lyrical work from Eddie Henderson.

The set winds up with the drums-percussion blast-off ‘Give The Drummer Some’, which is a raucous exchange between Connors and Airto, but the whole album is a hard-edged triumph of ensemble playing. Shame the female vocals on the title track are not credited.