Many 1980s and 1990s jazz/rock bands tried and failed to match Weather Report’s killer combination of catchy melodies, elegant group interplay and cutting-edge improvisation, exemplified by their 1977 masterpiece Heavy Weather.

But surely the most successful of the lot was guitarist Scott Henderson and bassist Gary Willis’s Tribal Tech. The LA-based group released four albums between 1985 and 1991 with various personnel, each better than the last.

But by early 1992 they had a settled quartet, with Henderson and Willis recruiting Scott Kinsey on keyboards and Kirk Covington on drums.

Their debut was Illicit, recorded under armed guard during the LA riots of April 1992, and for this writer it matches Heavy Weather for infectious compositions, top-drawer solos and accessibility.

Covington – a Texas friend of Willis’s – was an amazing find, combining the floor-shaking power of Dennis Chambers with the finesse of a Trilok Gurtu, plus an innovative use of brushes and soft sticks.

Kinsey was an ace face from the LA live scene whose playing reminded many of Joe Zawinul, but in fact his range was far wider. On ‘Stoopid’ his funky Rhodes solo sounds uncannily like George Duke – elsewhere he formulates his own trademark sounds.

Despite the complexity of the music on Illicit, you can tell this band was having fun. They gently mock two big genres of the early 1990s; the cover art lampoons gangsta rap albums while Willis’s brilliant opener ‘The Big Wave’ pokes fun at smooth jazz.

Henderson’s guitar tone has arguably never been better. He doubled down on the blues, with the Steely-esque ‘Slidin’ Into Charlisa’ and harmonically-rich, Texas boogie ‘Root Food’, and even flirted unashamedly with Led Zeppelin-esque riffing on ‘Torque’.

Meanwhile ‘Black Cherry’ is almost up there with classic mid-period Zawinul ballads ‘Night Clock’, ‘The Orphan’, ‘Cannonball’ and ‘A Remark You Made’. As for ‘Riot’, it’s got to be one of the greatest studio jams every committed to tape.

The only small gripe with Illicit is the mixing/mastering which is a tad bass-heavy and muffled (and doesn’t sound great on Spotify). It’s a rare album that sounds better when played through the iTunes graphic equaliser.

The good news is that Henderson, Willis, Kinsey and Covington continued to make music together right up until X in 2012 – and have never officially broken up. So who knows, maybe there’s more TT music to come…

Check out my ultimate Scott Henderson/Tribal Tech playlist.