Mike Clark is an American jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 and funk

Funk

Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...

 drummer

Drummer

A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...

 who is most noted for playing in the Headhunters

The Headhunters

The Headhunters are an American jazz-funk fusion band, best known for their albums they recorded as a backing band of jazz keyboard player Herbie Hancock during the 1970s. Hancock's debut album with the group, Head Hunters, is one of the best-selling jazz/fusion records of all time.-History:Herbie...

 band headed up by Herbie Hancock

Herbie Hancock

Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...

 in the mid-1970s. Clark's performance on Hancock's album Thrust

Thrust (album)

Thrust is a jazz fusion album by Herbie Hancock, released in 1974 on Columbia Records. It served as a follow-up to Hancock's album, Head Hunters , and achieved similar commercial success, as the album reached as high as number 13 on the Billboard Hot 200 listing...

, and particularly the song "Actual Proof," is often cited as one of the finest examples of the linear funk style of drumming. He was also a member of the UK jazz-fusion outfit Brand X

Brand X

Brand X was a jazz fusion band active between 1975–1980 and 1992-1999. Noted members included Phil Collins , Percy Jones , John Goodsall and Robin Lumley ....

, alternating behind the kit with Phil Collins

Phil Collins

Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....

 between 1978-80. Clark has also performed with many top musicians from the worlds of jazz and funk, including Chet Baker

Chet Baker

Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker, Jr. was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and singer.Though his music earned him a large following , Baker's popularity was due in part to his "matinee idol-beauty" and "well-publicized drug habit."He died in 1988 in Amsterdam, the...

, Vince Guaraldi

Vince Guaraldi

Vincent Anthony "Vince" Guaraldi was an Italian American jazz musician and pianist noted for his innovative compositions and arrangements and for composing music for animated adaptations of the Peanuts comic strip...

, Fred Wesley

Fred Wesley

Fred Wesley is an American jazz and funk trombonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s and 1970s.-Biography:...

, Michael Wolff

Michael Wolff

Michael Blieden Wolff is an American jazz pianist, composer, producer, actor, and jazz educator. He was the bandleader and musical director of The Arsenio Hall Show...

, Les Claypool

Les Claypool

Leslie Edward "Les" Claypool is an American musician and writer, best known as the lead vocalist and bassist in the band Primus. Claypool's playing style on the electric bass mixes tapping, flamenco-like strumming, whammy bar bends and slapping.Claypool has also self produced and engineered his...

, and Charlie Hunter

Charlie Hunter

for the New Zealand racehorse trainer and driver see: Charlie HunterCharlie Hunter is an American guitarist, composer and bandleader....

. Clark is also known as one of the most sampled

Sampling (music)

In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...

 drummers in contemporary music. His beats have appeared on records by Prince, NWA

N.W.A.

N.W.A was an American hip hop group from Compton, California, widely considered one of the seminal acts of the gangsta rap sub-genre....

, De La Soul

De La Soul

De La Soul is an American hip hop trio formed in 1987 on Long Island, New York. The band is best known for their eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics, and their contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternative hip hop subgenres...

, and Janet Jackson

Janet Jackson

Janet Damita Jo Jackson is an American recording artist and actress. Known for a series of sonically innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows, television and film roles, she has been a prominent figure in popular culture for over 25 years...

, among others.

Selected discography

Year	Artist	Title	Label
1974	Herbie Hancock Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...	Thrust Thrust (album) Thrust is a jazz fusion album by Herbie Hancock, released in 1974 on Columbia Records. It served as a follow-up to Hancock's album, Head Hunters , and achieved similar commercial success, as the album reached as high as number 13 on the Billboard Hot 200 listing...	Columbia Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
1974	Herbie Hancock Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...	Death Wish Death Wish (soundtrack) Death Wish is a soundtrack album by Herbie Hancock featuring music composed for Dino De Laurentis' film Death Wish released in 1974 on Columbia Records.-Track listing:# "Death Wish " - 6:14# "Joanna's Theme" - 4:46...	Columbia
1975	Herbie Hancock Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...	Flood Flood (Herbie Hancock album) Flood is the eighteenth album by Herbie Hancock. It was released only in Japan in 1975. It features the Headhunters Band, performing their hits from the Head Hunters, Thrust and Man-Child albums...	Columbia
1975	The Headhunters The Headhunters The Headhunters are an American jazz-funk fusion band, best known for their albums they recorded as a backing band of jazz keyboard player Herbie Hancock during the 1970s. Hancock's debut album with the group, Head Hunters, is one of the best-selling jazz/fusion records of all time.-History:Herbie...	Survival of the Fittest	Arista Arista Records Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
1976	Eddie Henderson Eddie Henderson (musician) Eddie Henderson is an American jazz trumpet and flugelhorn player. Henderson's influences include Booker Little, Clifford Brown, Woody Shaw and Miles Davis.-Family influence and early music history:...	Heritage Heritage (Eddie Henderson album) Heritage is an album by American jazz trumpeter Eddie Henderson recorded in 1976 and released on the Blue Note label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Thom Jurk awarded the album 3½ stars stating "Heritage is a wonderful set, and should be revisited by anyone who either missed or was put off by it...	Blue Note Blue Note Records Blue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. At the end of the 1950s, and in the early 1960s, Blue Note headquarters...
1976	Herbie Hancock Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...	Man-Child Man-Child Man-Child is the seventeenth album by jazz pianist Herbie Hancock. The album is arguably one of his most funk influenced albums and it represents his further departure from the "spacey, higher atmosphere jazz," as he referred to it, of his earlier career. Hancock uses more funk based rhythms around...	Columbia
1979	Brand X Brand X Brand X was a jazz fusion band active between 1975–1980 and 1992-1999. Noted members included Phil Collins , Percy Jones , John Goodsall and Robin Lumley ....	Product Product (Brand X album) -Side one:# "Don't Make Waves" – 5:28# "Dance of the Illegal Aliens" – 7:50# "Soho" – 3:38# "...And So to F..." – 6:29-Side two:...	Virgin Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
1980	Brand X Brand X Brand X was a jazz fusion band active between 1975–1980 and 1992-1999. Noted members included Phil Collins , Percy Jones , John Goodsall and Robin Lumley ....	Do They Hurt? Do They Hurt? Do They Hurt? is an album by Brand X. The tracks on this album are outtakes from the Product sessions. -Side one:#"Noddy Goes to Sweden" – 4:30#"Voidarama" – 4:21...	Virgin
1987	Mike Clark	Give the Drummer Some	Stash
1992	Mike Clark/Paul Jackson	The Funk Stops Here	Enja Enja Records Enja Records is a German jazz record label based in Munich, Germany. It was founded by jazz enthusiasts Matthias Winckelmann and Horst Weber in 1971....
1994	Mike Clark and friends	Jim Payne's New York Funk	Grammavision
1995	Mike Clark	Master Drummers: Volume Three	Ubiquity Ubiquity Ubiquity is a synonym for omnipresence, the property of being present everywhere.Ubiquity may also refer to:* Ubiquity , a simple graphical installer made for the Ubuntu operating system* Ubiquity Records, an American music label...
1999	Mike Clark	Summertime	Jazz Key Music
2000	Mike Clark	Actual Proof	Platform
2001	Mike Clark, Paul Jackson Paul Jackson (bassist) Paul Jackson is an American jazz bass guitarist and composer. He has played with many of the great jazz artists, most notably playing bass on several of Herbie Hancock's seminal albums, Head Hunters, Thrust, and others. He was born in Oakland, California and began playing bass at the age of nine... , Marc Wagnon	Conjunction	Buckyball
2003	Headhunters	Evolution Revolution	Basin Street
2004	The Mackrosoft	1st Mack to the Moon	Mackrosoft Records
2004	The Mackrosoft	Life Imitates Clouds	Mackrosoft Records
2008	The Headhunters: Live in Europe
2009	Mike Clark	Blueprints of Jazz: Vol. 1	Talking House Records
2010	Mike Clark	Carnival of Soul	Owl Studios Owl Studios Owl Studios is an independent record label, started in 2005 by J. Allan Hall, that concentrates on jazz, R&B, and jam band genres. It is based in Indianapolis, Indiana and operates from its downtown offices on Monument Circle.-Formation:...
2011	The Headhunters The Headhunters The Headhunters are an American jazz-funk fusion band, best known for their albums they recorded as a backing band of jazz keyboard player Herbie Hancock during the 1970s. Hancock's debut album with the group, Head Hunters, is one of the best-selling jazz/fusion records of all time.-History:Herbie...	Platinum	Owl Studios Owl Studios Owl Studios is an independent record label, started in 2005 by J. Allan Hall, that concentrates on jazz, R&B, and jam band genres. It is based in Indianapolis, Indiana and operates from its downtown offices on Monument Circle.-Formation:...

External links

• Mike Clark Music (official site)
• Drummerworld: Mike Clark