The Headhunters, an iconic jazz fusion group founded by Herbie Hancock in 1973, are jazz pioneers, combining energetic improvisation with the popular funk and rock rhythms of the early '70s.
Though Hancock left The Headhunters after a couple of years, percussionist Bill Summers and drummer Mike Clark have kept the band together for decades. In 2022, The Headhunters visited the KNKX Studios, just before the release of their 10th album, Speakers in the House.
As Summers noted, the current band isn't identical to the original group, but the concept is the same: Let great musicians take chances.
"The philosophy is to go to destinations unknown, jump into the abyss, into the black hole. That's what we do," Summers said.
In the band, Clark and Summers play complex rhythms, but their sense of groove makes the music easy to dance to. Clark joked about how important these rhythms are to all of us here on Earth.
"If there was no rhythm, then all of life would be one long note," Clark said.
A native of Detroit, Summers is living in New Orleans now, and that's where he found the rest of the new Headhunters: pianist Kyle Roussel, bassist Chris Severin and the legendary saxophonist Donald Harrison. They all grew up as big fans of The Headhunters.
"If you like jam band, you like The Headhunters. If you like straight ahead, you like The Headhunters. If you like classical music, you like The Headhunters. Because everything is all mixed up together into a gumbo for you to eat, and it tastes good," Harrison said.
Summers explained that Hancock formed The Headhunters as a response to his early '70s group, Mwandishi, which included Seattle-based trombonist Julian Priester. It was a great band whose challenging free improvisation style resulted in disappointing record sales.
"His manager was saying, 'Herbie, I think you better play something funky so we can pay the bills,' but he took it to another level," Summers said.
For Summers' part, he helped The Headhunters develop their trademark sound with colorful, creative playing, like his use of the Central African singing and bottle-playing technique called "hindewhu."
"To bring these things back, like in 'Watermelon Man,' to bring the 'hindewhu' into the picture, to bring that culture into the picture, it broadens the scope," Summers said.
In the more than 50 years since their formation, The Headhunters have taken that idea to heart, continuing to record, perform, and broaden jazz music's scope.
