Mark Nauseef

Although less celebrated than many of his contemporaries in the session drumming world, Mark Nauseef has explored an unusually broad spectrum of musical idioms throughout his career. Over the course of decades he has immersed himself in Javanese gamelan under K.R.T. Wasitodiningrat, Balinese gamelan with I. Nyoman Wenten, North Indian pakhawaj technique alongside Pandit Taranath Rao and Pandit Amiya Dasgupta, Ghanaian drumming and dance from Kobla, Alfred Ladzekpo, Dzidzogbe Lawulvi, and C.K. Ganyo, as well as 20th Century Western percussion and hand-drumming methods taught by John Bergamo and Glen Velez.

Nauseef first gained experience in the 1970s, contributing drums to recordings by Elf, whose vocalist was a pre-Rainbow/Black Sabbath Ronnie James Dio, a post-Lou Reed incarnation of the Velvet Underground, the Ian Gillan Band, and a temporary stint with Thin Lizzy on an Australian tour preserved in the home video The Boys Are Back in Town, along with work alongside Jack Bruce, Andy Summers, and Gary Moore. Before long he extended his reach beyond rock, performing with Joachim Kühn, Rabih Abou-Khalil, Trilok Gurtu, Kyai Kunbul in its Javanese gamelan context, the Ladzekpo Brothers in their Ghanaian tradition, and the Gamelan Orchestra of Saba presenting Balinese gamelan.

Beginning in the early 1980s he has released occasional solo projects, among them Personal Notes and Sura in 1983, Wun-Wun the following year, Snake Music in 1995, and With Space in Mind in 2000. Beyond performing, Nauseef has also taken on production duties for traditional Balinese and Javanese music releases, several of which later surfaced on the compilation CMPIer, Vol. 1: 3000 Series.