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Mike Clark
Biography
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.
Selected Discography