2025-26 Season | JHL: Oct 2-5
Oct 04 - Oct 05, 2025
Joe Henderson Lab
PLEASE NOTE:
This page is an archive of a past production
Please visit our calendar for all upcoming SFJAZZ shows.
Original show description below.
A drummer of undeniable influence with a masterful command of the instrument, Mike Clark leads a quintet of fellow greats including his fellow Herbie Hancock alum, trumpeter Eddie Henderson, along with saxophonist Craig Handy, keyboard master Patrice Rushen and veteran bassist Essiet Essiet.
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 his 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 as a bandleader and has worked with staggering variety of jazz royalty including Christian McBride, Wayne Shorter, Bobby Hutcherson, Tony Bennett, and Vince Guaraldi.
In recent years, Clark has performed regularly with keyboardists Michael Wolff, Wil Blades, and Mike LeDonne as well as guitarist Nir Felder, and his latest Wide Hive Records release is Kosen Rufu, an all-star session titled for the core concept in Nichiren Buddhism to spread the teachings of the Lotus Sutra to attain world peace.
A drummer of undeniable influence with a masterful command of the instrument, Mike Clark is best known for his work with Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters. He leads a band of fellow greats including trumpeter Eddie Henderson, keyboardist Patrice Rushen, saxophonist Craig Handy, and bassist Essiet Essiet.
A brilliant jazz drummer
jazztimes on mike clark
A brilliant jazz drummer
jazztimes on mike clark
Personnel
Mike Clark drums
Eddie Henderson trumpet
Patrice Rushen piano
Craig Handy saxophone
Essiet Essiet bass
He’s a great jazz drummer—and he hasn’t lost any of the stuff that he brought from Oakland. So now he’s totally free to do both, and he does
herbie hancock on mike clark
Personnel
Mike Clark drums
Eddie Henderson trumpet
Patrice Rushen piano
Craig Handy saxophone
Essiet Essiet bass
He’s a great jazz drummer—and he hasn’t lost any of the stuff that he brought from Oakland. So now he’s totally free to do both, and he does
herbie hancock on mike clark
Watch & Listen
Mike Clark Quartet
Hat and Beard
Mike Clark Quartet
One for Mganga
Mike Clark Quartet
Hat and Beard
Mike Clark Quartet
One for Mganga