The Headhunters 50th Anniversary
Saturday, June 22nd -5:30pm @ Wheeler Opera House
“To say drummer Mike Clark and percussionist Bill Summers have stories to tell is an understatement.
They’ve been the nucleus of The Headhunters across 50 years, the mercurial, pioneering jazz-funk unit with a populist bent focused on memorable melodies and hooks. Both have also collaborated with many of the greatest jazz, rock, R&B, and funk musicians in history.
The Headhunters first spun off from the group that recorded Herbie Hancock’s platinum 1973 album Head Hunters. At the time, the band featured bassist Paul Jackson, drummer Harvey Mason, winds player Bennie Maupin, and Summers. Clark replaced Mason in 1974. Hancock recorded and performed with the subsequent lineup until 1980, resulting in albums including 1974’s Thrust, 1975’s Man-Child, 1976’s Secrets, and 1977’s Sunlight.
With Hancock’s encouragement, The Headhunters went on to pursue its own identity as a standalone band, releasing 1975’s Survival of the Fittest, produced by Hancock, and 1978’s Straight From the Gate, which included him as a special guest. The group, once again featuring Hancock as a full member, reunited for 1998’s one-off recording Return of The Headhunters, before it resumed activity with Clark and Summers at the helm.” – The Headhunters | Inner Reformation by Anil Prasad
Read the full interview with Innerviews where Mike Clark and Bill Summers speak about The Headhunters’ resurgence, and they each reflected on many notable solo and collaborative projects from their multi-decade histories!