The Headhunters started out as Herbie Hancock’s backing group for such groundbreaking funk jazz albums as “Thrust” and “Man Child”. When 1975 rolled around, Herbie had moved on to other things and The Headhunters decided to keep performing without him. “The Survival Of The Fittest” is a very solid set of intricate funk jazz leaning towards fusion. Due to their ultra technical drummer, Mike Clark, The Headhunters take on the funk is jazzy and abstract in a style where the beat constantly turns around and shifts in unpredictable directions. An interesting cut is “Rima” on which the guys, led by ace composer and woodwinds player Bennie Maupin, drop the funk for a bit and get into an extended woodwinds and electronics tone poem. Another standout track is the album opener, “God Make Me Funky (Feat. the Pointer Sisters),” which has been heavily sampled in hip-hop, becoming a cornerstone of many classic songs by hip-hop greats such as 2Pac, N.W.A., De La Soul, Eric B. & Rakim, Nas, DMX, Usher, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, and the Beastie Boys, to name just a few. The album closes with “If You’ve Got it, You’ll Get it”, on which Blackbyrd is given room to play an extended acid rock/ jazz fusion solo reminiscent of the great Pete Cosey.