There have been few bigger-selling or more influential jazz albums than Herbie Hancock’s 1973 fusion masterpiece Head Hunters, which saw Hancock ploughing a freshly funky groove and driving his musical ideas forward in ways that would shape and define the future course of genres as diverse as soul and hip-hop. Hancock’s supporting players also emerged as a force in their own right, recording their breakaway debut, Survival of the Fittest, in 1975 (with Hancock serving as producer).

And here, half a century later, they still are, with drummer Mike Clark and percussionist Bill Summers still in place since that initial release. And they’re still funky and defying musical boundaries. Take Clark’s spacy, angular ‘Avant Clark’, which features memorable contributions from all members of the core quintet – Clark and Summers plus bassist Chris Severin, Kyle Roussel on keyboards and Donald Harrison on alto sax – or the Summers-penned rap-inflected closing track, ‘New Levels – New Devils’, which has guest vocal contributions from J Wills, Simone Mosley and Reggie Stevens. Five of the seven cuts are originals, topped out with lively covers of George Gershwin’s ‘Embraceable You’ and Wayne Shorter’s ‘ESP’.