Funky jazz ala Headhunters-era Herbie

It's not much like Headhunters, but Mel Brown's "Chicken Grease" is superfunky. Mostly a guitar record, though.

Sorry, "Chicken Fat"

You already know Funkadelic and Parliament, do you?

I mean, if may be strange for me who isn't much into funk usually (actually I dislike James Brown rather than dislike funk in general), but I do like George Clinton, and I think the main reason is that it reminds me of some of the fusion stuff that I like (like, for instance, 70s Herbie Hancock)

You may also want to check out the three Weather Report albums released when Alphonso Johnson played bass with the band. Surely, I think Jaco Pastorius was an even better guy for them, but Johnson was the funkier one, and particularly "Mysterious Traveller" and "Tale Spinnin'" are rather funky in places.

There's this little LP Miles Davis cut in 1972 called On the Corner. Buy it in all formats.

Eddie Henderson - Sunburst

Thanks for the tips so far. I do like Parliament/Funkadelic. I saw them live a couple of times in the late 80's/early 90's - mindblowing - but their albums on the whole I find hit and miss. "Let's Take It To The Stage" for example is about 50% awesome.

donald byrd had some funky stuff

Byrd's Ethiopian Knights is worth checking out. For other Headhunters in particular, Julian Priester's Love, Love is good.

Sunburst would be my first recommendation too, considering that it features members of the Headhunters and Herbie's pre-Headhunters band, with George Duke on keyboards. It's a bit more abstract than Herbies' funk albums, but quite funky nevertheless.

I think Eddie Harris' early-to-mid-seventies albums might work well too. There a tune on I Need Some Money that very much reminds me of "Chameleon".

You could also check out Ronnie Foster's Cheshire Cat. It's a bit lighter and breezier than Herbie's stuff, but it still has lots of funky synth playing.

Charles Earland's "Odyssey" features alot of, well, Odyssey.

it's straight funk but i'd recommend some early Bar-Kays stuff for a lot of great 70's keyboard stuff + horns etc.

some of this might qualify: http://www.answers.com/topic/groove-jammy-rare-groove-classics-from-the-muse-catalog

this I like better, but I'm a drummer so I would. Soul Drums by Purdie I like even more but it's harder to find.

sadly the Purdie stuff doesn't have any "primitive synthesizers/electronic treatments" going on

Not sure what "primitive" means in this context, but how about Earth, Wind & Fire & Ramsey Lewis, "Sun Goddess"? Or Les McCann & Eddie Harris, "Compared to What"?

I'd recommend some Larry Young, particularly Lawrence of Newark and Fuel.

"primitive" synthesizers - perhaps i should have just said "vintage". the 70's models are primitive compared to today's, but they sounded great. herbie especially could do crazy shit with the arp. it always sounded like some weird alien signal. "sextant" (which i love although it's definitely more out-there and not so funky) is full of strange bleep and bloops.

Miroslav Vitous -- Magical Shepard

Mysterious Traveller, Larry Young and Eddie Henderson are also good suggestions and has the synth sounds.

You might know this stuff, but you might not, but if you like more the band sound of say Bitches Brew or In A Silent Way era Miles Davis, there is some really nice funky jazz that borders on early fusion. You won't usually find the synth sounds or the huge electric bass, but you will definitely find the groove and great back beat drumming on some end of the 60s early 70s recordings by Donald Byrd, Grant Green, Lou Donaldson, Lonnie Liston Smith, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Pharoah Sanders, etc. or things with Idris Muhammad playing drums. It definitely has a sound vibe of that era, even without the synths. It's all good music, at least to me.

X-Post to breadmaster: They were primitive in that you could only play one note. Of couse, for this particular genre that didn't matter too much as funk has never been much about fat synth chords anyway.

Earth Wind & Fire surely a good call btw. (although they didn't really use a lot of synths before the 80s, did they?

All 'n All is from 1977, and it has already plenty of synths.

George Duke's Faces in Reflection (MPS - 1974) has some ARP, Echoplex, and Fender Rhodes going on.