Mike Clark

Inextricably tied to his work with Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters, Clark is a funk legend whose beats for Hancock’s hugely influential mid-70s band have been endlessly sampled and whose playing on the 1974 Headhunters landmark Thrust has inspired countless drummers to dig into that linear style. But long before he brought East Bay grease into the keyboardist’s pioneering combo, Clark was a Philly Joe Jones-idolizing jazz cat who came up on the 1960s Bay Area scene playing bebop.

Still a member of the Headhunters, Clark has built an extensive career, working with Christian McBride, Wayne Shorter, Bobby Hutcherson, Tony Bennett, and Vince Guaraldi.

Loosely translated from the Buddhist Lotus Sutra as “world peace through individual happiness,” Kosen Rufu is a modern classic featuring fellow Hancock alum Henderson and Headhunters percussionist Bill Summers along with Skerik, bassist Henry Franklin, and keyboardist Wayne Horvitz. The album veers from post-bop to funk and contains a sublime rendition of Eric Dolphy’s Thelonious Monk dedication “Hat and Beard” from his seminal 1964 Blue Note album Out to Lunch!.