God may have made them funky, but The Headhunters may now have one of their cherished number in heaven.

It’s hard to imagine the combo without Paul Jackson, the bassist who helped to redefine the art of groove, but original members, drummer Mike Clark and percussionist Bill Summers are still going strong almost half a century after they emerged from groundbreaking duty with Herbie Hancock. That timeless blend of electric jazz and R&B is still intact and at times it veers towards both West Africa and New Orleans, blending new colours into the mix which are not uninteresting, particularly Fode Sissoko’s eye-of-the needle kora.

In a welcome reference to its own past the band also pulls off an acoustic re-imagining of Hancock’s seminal ‘Actual Proof’, switching the fizzing backbeat for a fluttering half-time swing. It works well enough but for all the sharp polyrhythms and zestful solos the material falls short of the high bar set by previous works. It is a reminder that, apart from being legendary beatmasters, The Headhunters had great tunes. There are some good ones here but Speakers In The House needs a shot of inspiration for it to be really saying something.