Check your head

>> Mike Clark's Prescription Renewal Tour unites jazz/funk contemporaries with the original heavy hitter

by SCOTT C

If you just happened to be one of the many talented musicians who were living and playing in the thriving jazz/funk/fusion scene in NYC circa 1975, you probably saw or caught wind of Mike Clark's now-legendary chops. Clark, the son of a drummer from New Orleans, was something of a prodigy, holding down jam sessions with his dad's friends and playing steady gigs from the age of 12. It wasn't until after years of drumming for everyone from Sly Stone to Chet Baker that he got some shine while playing with Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters, perhaps the stage in his career that he contributed most to the emerging sounds of jazz/funk.

In '98, the Headhunters reunited to record Return of the Headhunters and staged a world tour that saw both Clark and Herbie Hancock return for the ride. "The Headhunters thing was something that we'd tried out in the studio, and ended up being on the road for the whole year," says Clark in a voice that is obviously the result of playing in smoke-filled clubs for over two decades. "It felt pretty damn good, so we just finished another CD and plan to tour again as well." It's not surprising, though that, Headhunters aside, Mike Clark has been making noise with another band of his own conception while making his way across North America.

The Prescription Renewal Tour finds Clark centre stage with some jazz-funk luminaries of a different age and time. Guitar-man Charlie Hunter, one time Greyboy All-Star Robert Walter on keyboards and the reigning king of turntable improv, DJ Logic, all join Clark in the mix for the cross-country journey. "I like these cats, man," howls Clark, delighted with the ensemble. "Great musicians, every one of them. I feel just like I did when I was 18, playing with these guys. We all relate the same way personality-wise, we all have the same sense of humour and I don't feel like they're any younger or that I'm any older."

It's got to be this connection between the players that allows them to weave in and out of an amazing musical conversation that's been going on live in front of mesmerized crowds for months. The climate has definitely changed a bit since the Headhunters were trying to change the world one show at a time as hippies during the '70s, but Clark's dedication to the music and his faith in people remains. "We had our own secret language back then and the people who come out today have theirs, too. I identify with that. The humanity that we can develop towards ourselves and each other, that's what I'm trying to bring to the music. That's how I feel."

With Detention at Cabaret on Tuesday, March 13, 9pm, $19.50