Michael Jeffrey Clark (born October 3, 1946) is an American drummer. He gained worldwide recognition as one of America's foremost jazz and funk drummers while playing with Herbie Hancock in the early 1970s. His incisive playing on Hancock's Actual Proof garnered him an international cult following and influenced generations of drummers throughout the world.
Michael Jeffrey Clark was born in Sacramento, California, United States. He traveled around the country with his father, a 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. 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.
Mike has performed with such well-known jazz greats as Herbie Hancock, Christian McBride, Chet Baker, John Scofield, Nicholas Payton, Tony Bennett, Wayne Shorter, Joe Henderson, Eddie Henderson, Bobby Hutcherson, Vince Guaraldi, Woody Shaw, Donald Harrison, Albert King, Larry Coryell, Michael Wolff, Wallace Roney, Billy Childs, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Chris Potter, Bobby McFerrin, Nat Adderley, Oscar Brown Jr., and Gil Evans and his orchestra.
His latest recordings include "Retro Report" with Delbert Bump on Rope-a-Dope label, "Life Cycle" with Mark Sherman, Chase Baird, and Felix Pastorius, also on Rope-a-Dope; Eddie Henderson's "Be Cool" on the Smoke label; Charnett Moffett's "Music from Our Soul" on Motima; and "Indigo Blue: Live at the Iridium" with Christian McBride, Donald Harrison, Rob Dixon, Randy Brecker, and Antonio Farao on Highnote.
Clark endorses DW drums, Istanbul Agop cymbals, Evans drumheads, and Innovative Percussion drumsticks. He has played Remo drumheads, Vic Firth drumsticks, Zildjian cymbals, and Paiste cymbals in the past.