Mike Clark | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Michael Jeffrey Clark |
Born |
Sacramento, California, U.S. |
October 3, 1946
Genres | Jazz |
Occupation(s) | Musician |
Instruments | Drums |
Years active | 1950s–present |
Labels | Tiptoe, Ubiquity, PGI, Buckyball, P-Vine, Owl Studios |
Associated acts | The Headhunters, Brand X, Stone Tiger |
Website | www |
Mike Clark (born October 3, 1946) is an American drummer who played in the jazz fusion group The Headhunters, led by Herbie Hancock, in the mid-1970s.
Michael Jeffrey Clark was born in Sacramento, California, on October 3, 1946. When he was five, he began to teach himself how to play the drums. His father, also a drummer, took him to clubs to sit in with the band two years later. In the 1950s, he was a freelance drummer in San Francisco, then studied music in Oakland. He played professionally with Vince Guaraldi, Woody Shaw, Eddie Henderson, and Joe Henderson. Beginning in 1975 he played with Herbie Hancock and Hancock's jazz-funk band The Headhunters. In 1977 he was part of the jazz rock group Brand X. In the early 1980s, he joined guitarist Bill Frisell and bassist Percy Jones in the group Stone Tiger.
Clark recorded his first album as a leader in 1989. Give the Drummer Some was an acoustic ensemble comprising saxophonist Ricky Ford, bassist Chip Jackson, pianist Neal Kirkwood, trumpeter Jack Walrath, and guitarist Jack Wilkins.