Mike Clark in New York

Mike Clark is an American jazz-funk drummer and founding member of Herbie Hancock's Headhunters. Born in Sacramento, he helped define Oakland's East Bay Sound before joining Hancock in 1973 and shaping Thrust (1974), earning fame as the Father of Linear Drumming. Grooves on God Make Me Funk rank among hip-hop's most sampled beats, and he later worked with Brand X. He leads organ trios and all-star jazz bands built around hard-swinging rhythm.