Michael Clark:  

“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. The solo he played on the album Thrust, on the song “Actual Proof,” is one of the best drum solos on any of my albums. So many people have remarked about that solo, saying, ‘Incredible.’” -Herbie Hancock MIKE CLARK DRUMMER / BAND LEADER While often referred to as the “Tony Williams of funk,” Mike Clark is considered one of the foremost jazz drummers of the genre. He gained worldwide recognition as one of the instrument's important innovators while playing with Herbie Hancock in the early seventies. His incisive playing on Hancock’s “Actual Proof” garnered him an international cult following and influenced generations of drummers. Born in Sacramento, CA, Mike traveled around the country with his father, a former drummer himself and a union man for the railroad. His dad had a great appreciation for jazz and blues music, and Mike absorbed the music of America while riding the rails. He credits this exposure as forming the foundation for his ability to synthesize many different regional styles. From age 4, he was a prodigy, sitting in--and getting “house” --with bands in Texas and New Orleans. And by the time he reached his early twenties he was known as one of the founders of the distinctive East Bay Sound coming out of Oakland, California. Besides Herbie Hancock, Mike has performed with such well-known jazz greats as Christian McBride, Kenny Garrett, Chet Baker, John Scofield, Nicholas Payton, Tony Bennett, Wayne Shorter, Joe Henderson, Eddie Henderson, Bob...Expand for more