Mike Clark & Delbert Bump

Drummer Mike Clark is well known for his ground-breaking work with Herbie Hancock's 1970s funk-jazz outfit the Headhunters. He even headed up the group after Hancock left to pursue other projects. Clark's work goes far beyond the funk and R&B traditions, however, and his own albums -- like 1989's Give the Drummer Some, 1992's The Funk Stops Here, and 2000's Actual Proof -- reveal him as an astute contemporary jazz drummer and composer. Bebop and organ jazz influences marked 2010's Carnival of Soul, while 2023's avant-garde-leaning Kosen Rufu found him reuniting with two fellow...