Masterful funky soul jazz from the mid 70s – and one of the best solo albums recorded by Headhunter Bill Summers – a sunny batch of Bay Area funk that really grooves with the best of Fantasy Records from the time! The set was produced by Skip Scarborough, and has that great bubbling, stepping, soulful groove that was Scarborough's best contribution to jazz funk – a trademark groove that was every bit as important to the 70s as the work of Bob James or Larry Mizell! Summers' work on congas and percussion is excellent and the players are totally top shelf – the core group features drums by Alphonse Mouzon, bass by Paul Jackson, and keyboards by Scarborough – and vocalists on the set include Dianne Reeves, Mikki Morris, and Charles Meeks. Titles include "Drum Suite", "Come Into My Life", "People Know", "Just A Matter Of Time", "No One", "Check It Out", and "Que Sabroso". CD

Killer electric work from Herbie Hancock – right on par with his groundbreaking Headhunters set, but a bit spacier too! The album features a Headhunters-solid lineup – with Bennie Maupin on saxes, Paul Jackson on bass, Mike Clark on drums, and Bill Summers on percussion – all grooving wonderfully with Herbie on a set of super-long tracks! Hancock himself handles a host of incredible keyboards – Fender Rhodes, clavinet, Arp, and lots more – all in a lean electric style that still sounds as fresh today as it did way back in the mid 70s – perhaps even more so, given the return to this sort of basic groove that has happened in recent years! Tracks are long, tight, and super funky – and titles include "Actual Proof", "Palm Grease", "Spank-A-Lee", and "Butterfly". CD

A rare Japanese-only session from Herbie Hancock – very electric, and nicely funky in all the right parts! The set was recorded at the end of the 70s with amazing fidelity – and features a unique lineup that includes Webster Lewis on additional keyboards and Alphonse Mouzon on drums – alongside more familiar partners Bennie Maupin on reeds, Paul Jackson on bass, and Bill Summers on percussion! Given these last three, there's almost a slight Headhunters feel to the set – but the overall groove is a bit more mellow, with some wonderfully spacey touches that are super-soulful – and miles above anything that Herbie was recording in the US at the time. Titles include the sublime mellow groover "Butterfly", plus "Shiftless Shuffle", and the side-long jazzy jammer "I Thought It Was You"! CD

The legendary Headhunters are still in mighty great shape after all these years – different in lineup, but still a sublime showcase for the work of Mike Clark on drums and Bill Summers on percussion – two of the core Headhunters who first worked with Herbie Hancock back in the 70s! The rest of the lineup features alto sax from Donald Harrison, plus keyboards from Kyle Roussel and bass from Chris Severin – and as with other later iterations of the group, there's a fair bit of jazz in the mix, alongside the more familiar funk of the Headhunters' own records from back in the day – a quality that's probably even more pronounced here in the live setting, which features extended tracks with plenty of room for solos! Titles include versions of "Chameleon", "Headhunter Jam", "Four String Drive", "Butterfly", "Hey Pocky A Way", "Rocking At The Mole House", and "Watermelon Man". CD

New music from the legendary Headhunters – that crucial 70s funk combo who grew out of their role working with Herbie Hancock to become one of our favorite groups of that decade! Years later, they still sound pretty darn wonderful too – altered a bit in terms of the lineup, and slightly shifted in sound – but in the best way possible, so that they're not just rehashing the old days, and are instead exploring new territory – maybe even jazzier than on their famous albums for Arista from back in the day, and arguably even better here on the Ropeadope label than some of their other records in recent years. The drums of Mike Clark are rock-solid throughout, and augmented by the percussion of Bill Summers, who also plays a bit of keyboards – as does Stephen Gordon, who handles Fender Rhodes and piano – while Donald Harrison serves up all sorts of great alto solos throughout! Titles include "Kongo Square", "Actual Proof", "Stop Watch", "HH 75", "Vaspurakan", and "Over The Bar". CD