Wide Hive Records

Franklin, known to friends and colleagues as “The Skipper,” handles bass on the latest Wide Hive gem, Kosen Rufu, a session led by New York drummer Mike Clark, who attained near-legendary status in funk (and later, hip-hop) circles for his work with Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters on 1974’s Thrust and 1975’s Man-Child...

When asked about his musical identity, Clark is quick to declare that “given my druthers, I’m a bebop/post-bop drummer,” inspired by the likes of Philly Joe Jones, Elvin Jones and Tony Williams. But given his Headhunters work — his beats from “Actual Proof” and “Butterfly” have been widely sampled — he often gets calls for funk-related dates.

Howe, meanwhile, isn’t looking to put Clark in a particular box with his recordings for Wide Hive — something the drummer appreciates.

In aligning himself on Kosen Rufu with such estimable figures as trumpeter Eddie Henderson and pianist Wayne Horvitz, Mike Clark displays what may well be the greatest of all his virtues, that is, his willingness to humbly immerse himself in what he is doing and, by extension, refusing to merely dabble. Thus, it's only natural these eleven tracks commence with a bracing shuffle that sounds like an excerpt from a lengthier performance, at the very point the ensemble hits its collective stride.

While Daggerboard is an all-consuming project, it’s merely one of the irons that Howe has in the proverbial fire. Wide Hive Records is Howe’s label, so his daily routine is a balancing act between his role as label head and as leader of one of its signed acts. When working with groups, he says that he tries to “temper the label aspect and encourage the production.” But the duties often overlap.

“I always tell people that when you’re making a record, you can’t just make a record,” he explains. Howe compares album-making to parenting. “You’ve made a child, but now you’ve got to educate that child. You’ve got to make sure it has friends, send it to college.”

But he’s also championed younger jazz artists, forging a particularly fruitful alliance with Berkeley trumpeter and composer Erik Jekabson, who’s served as something of a house arranger for Wide Hive sessions (including the Throttle Elevator Music series featuring tenor sax star Kamasi Washington). Jekabson’s and Howe’s latest project is their most ambitious yet, a live chamber jazz recording Friday at the Hillside Club.