* En anglais uniquement
Drummer
Mike Clark is well known as the drummer for
Herbie Hancock's funk-jazz outfit
the Headhunters, and headed up the group after
Hancock left to pursue other projects. But
Clark goes far beyond playing simple R&B rhythms, becoming one of the more astute contemporary jazz drummers who also writes his own music. Born October 3, 1946, in Sacramento, CA,
Clark began his professional career at age six in New Orleans, dipping into blues, soul, and jazz. As a youth, he split time between Texas and Northern and Southern California, mostly in the San Francisco Bay Area, prominently performing with
Vince Guaraldi on the legendary themes for the Peanuts television projects. He was also the drummer on the controversial raunchy R&B album by
Betty Davis entitled
They Say I'm Different in 1974.
Clark and the pioneering electric bass guitarist
Paul Jackson worked together until both of them were recruited for
the Headhunters, recording
Thrust,
Flood, and
Man-Child with
Hancock on the Columbia label, and
the Headhunters' albums for Arista Records.
Then
Clark started his career as a leader with the 1989 Stash album Give the Drummer Some, with help from heavyweights like
Jack Wilkins,
Jack Walrath, and
Ricky Ford. Hopping from label to label over the next 15 years,
Clark issued
The Funk Stops Here for the Enja label in 1991, was part of
Master Drummers, Vol. 3 for Ubiquity, collaborated with
Jackson and vibraphonist
Marc Wagnon for the 2001 Buckyball CD
Conjunction, and issued Summertime for JazzKey in 2003 and his triumphant 2008 release,
Blueprints of Jazz, Vol. 1, for Talking House Records. Along the way,
Clark revived
the Headhunters for recordings and touring, and over the years has collaborated with the likes of
Eddie Henderson,
Shawn Phillips,
Alphonso Johnson,
Marc Puricelli,
Jeff and Suzanne Pittson,
Ned Sublette,
Percy Jones,
Henry Franklin,
Michael Wolff, Dave Ellis,
Brian Auger,
Christian McBride,
Patrice Rushen,
Towner Galaher,
Jed Levy,
Billy Childs,
Chris Potter,
Josh Roseman,
Bob Sheppard,
Dave Fiuczynski,
Donald Harrison,
Christian Scott,
Robert Hurst, and
James Genus. Like
Herbie Hancock,
Clark is a devotee of the Buddhist philosophies of Nichiren Daishonin. ~ Michael G. Nastos