BIOGRAPHY

Mike Clark, born October 3, 1946, in Sacramento, California, is an American jazz / funk drummer, best known for playing in Herbie Hancock's band, The Headhunters, in the mid-1970s.
Mike Clark gained worldwide recognition as one of America’s foremost jazz and funk drummers while playing with Herbie Hancock and The Headhunters in the early seventies. His incisive playing on Hancock’s “Actual Proof” garnered him an international cult following and influenced generations of drummers. His versatility led him to a two-year stint with Brand X, the British jazz/rock fusion band founded by Phil Collins. With them he recorded “Do They Hurt?” and “Product.”
He is the co-leader of “The Wolff and Clark Expedition,” with pianist Michael Wolff. They are readying their third album while touring. He also co-leads a new incarnation of The Headhunters with original founding member Bill Summers.
His group Prescription Renewal pulled together intergenerational talents such as Charlie Hunter, Fred Wesley, Skerik, Robert Walter, and DJ Logic, and featured artists such as Donald Harrison, George Porter Jr. of The Meters, Les Claypool, Larry Goldings. He has recorded with Snoop Dogg, George Clinton, and Killah Priest.
The Sacramento, CA native has recorded with jazz greats Herbie Hancock, Christian McBride, Chet Baker, John Scofield, Nicholas Payton, Tony Bennett, Wayne Shorter, Joe Henderson, Eddie Henderson, Bobby Hutcherson, Vince Guaraldi, Woody Shaw, Donald Harrison, Albert King, Larry Coryell, Mike Wolff, Wallace Roney, Billy Childs, Jack Walrath, Jack Wilkins, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Chris Potter, Bobby McFerrin, Nat Adderly, Oscar Brown Jr., and the Gil Evans Orchestra.
Along with James Brown's drummers Clyde Stubblefield and Jabo Stark, Mike's funk beats with The Headhunters (most notably "God Make Me Funky") include some of the most sampled in hip hop history.
Some of Clark's recent CDs include The Headhunters: Platinum, Blueprints Of Jazz Vol. 1, Carnival of Soul, Wolff & Clark Expedition, Wolf & Clark Expedition 2.
Mike is a popular and busy clinician. His book Funk Drumming: Innovative Grooves & Advanced Concepts was published by Hal Leonard.
He endorses DW Drums, Istanbul Cymbals, Evans Drum heads, and Innovation Percussion drumsticks. He lives in New York City.