Mark Nauseef

Mark Nauseef
Born (1953-06-11) 11 June 1953 (age 71)
Cortland, New York
United States
GenresRock, jazz, world
OccupationMusician
Instrument(s)Drums, percussion, vocals
Years active1971–present

Mark Nauseef (born June 11, 1953) is an American drummer and percussionist who has enjoyed a varied career, ranging from rock music during the 1970s with his time as a member of the Ian Gillan Band and, temporarily with Thin Lizzy when Brian Downey left for a short time,[1] to a wide range of musical styles in more recent times, playing with notable musicians from around the world.

Career

Nauseef briefly toured the United Kingdom in 1972 as tour member of The Velvet Underground before joining Elf, fronted by Ronnie James Dio, in early 1975, but the group disbanded shortly afterwards. Accompanied by Elf keyboardist Mickey Lee Soule, Nauseef joined ex-Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan in his new jazz fusion group, simply named the Ian Gillan Band. After three albums, Gillan broke the group up in 1978. Nauseef stood in for Thin Lizzy drummer Brian Downey for two international tours, and then joined Gary Moore's short-lived band G-Force.

During the 1980s, Nauseef moved away from rock music towards a range of styles, including Javanese and Balinese gamelan, as well as music of Indian and Ghanaian origin. He has released several solo albums and worked with other musicians in a variety of projects.

Artists with whom Nauseef has performed and/or recorded include Joachim Kühn, Gary Moore, Jack Bruce, Bill Laswell, Glenn Hughes, Rabih Abou-Khalil, Trilok Gurtu, Steve Swallow, L. Shankar, Hamza El Din, The Velvet Underground, Joëlle Léandre, Ikue Mori, Ronnie James Dio, Markus Stockhausen, Kyai Kunbul (Javanese Gamelan), Andy Summers, Tony Oxley, Tomasz Stanko, Kenny Wheeler, Edward Vesala's "Sound and Fury", Thelma Houston, David Torn, The Ladzekpo Brothers (Ghanaian music and dance), Charlie Mariano, The Gamelan Orchestra of Saba (Balinese Gamelan), Kudsi Erguner, Philip Lynott, George Lewis, Evan Parker and Lou Harrison. Throughout most of these projects Nauseef has collaborated with Walter Quintus.

Nauseef attended the California Institute of the Arts where he studied Javanese Gamelan with K.R.T. Wasitodiningrat, Balinese Gamelan with I Nyoman Wenten, North Indian Pakhawaj drumming with Pandit Taranath Rao, North Indian music theory with Pandit Amiya Dasgupta, Ghanaian drumming and dance with Kobla and Alfred Ladzekpo, Dzidzorgbe Lawluvi and C.K. Ganyo, and 20th Century Western percussion techniques and hand drumming with John Bergamo. He also studied frame drum techniques of the Middle East, India and the Caucasus with Glen Velez. It was also at CalArts that Nauseef began a very creative and productive relationship, which continues to this day, with musical "alter ego", guitarist Miroslav Tadic. Together, they have composed, recorded and produced various styles of music in settings ranging from duo to large ensembles with musicians from around the world.

Nauseef has also worked as a producer. In addition to his own recordings, he has produced many records of various types of music including modern experimental forms as well as traditional forms. Traditional music productions include numerous recordings of traditional Balinese and Javanese music, including the award-winning "The Music of K.R.T. Wasitodiningrat" which was recorded in Java and features Wasitodiningrat's compositions. Other examples include the Balinese ensemble recordings "Gamelan Batel Wayang Ramayana" and "Gender Wayang Pemarwan" which were recorded in Bali. These and other recordings of Indonesian music were produced for the CMP 3000 "World Series" with the production team of Kurt Renker And Walter Quintus. The "Worlds Series", which Nauseef was instrumental in establishing, was founded by CMP owner and producer Kurt Renker and produces recordings from a variety of non-western countries including India, Turkey, Korea, Indonesia and others.

Discography

Jack Bruce

The Velvet Underground

Elf

Ian Gillan Band

Thin Lizzy

Gary Moore's G-Force

  • G-Force, 1980 with Tony Newton, Willie Dee

Philip Lynott

Solo and others

Bibliography

Arcana V: Musicians on Music, Magic & Mysticism, Hips Road: New York (ISBN 0978833791), Edited by John Zorn with writings by Meredith Monk, Fred Frith, Terry Riley, Pauline Oliveros, Alvin Curran, Gavin Bryars, a.o., 2010

The Drum and Percussion Cookbook: Creative Recipes for Players and Teachers, Meredith Music / Hal Leonard (ISBN 1574631012), Edited by Rick Mattingly with writings by Peter Erskine, Bill Bruford, Valerie Dee Naranjo, Anthony Cirone, Robin Engelman, Bill Cahn, She-e Wu, John Beck, Glenn Kotche, a.o., 2008

Shamanism and Tantra in the Himalayas, Inner Traditions (ISBN 0892819138) by Claudia Müller-Ebeling, Christian Rätsch and Surendra Bahadur Shahi, 2002

Practicing and Making Music...Without Your Instrument, Published in The Percussive Arts Society journal PERCUSSIVE NOTES (Oct. 1992)

Music Practice as Meditation, Published in The Percussive Arts Society journal PERCUSSIVE NOTES (Feb. 2007)

Filmography

References

  1. ^ Steve Blackburn (2008). "NY Times: Thin Lizzy: The Boys Are Back in Town". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2008-04-09. Retrieved 2010-02-20.