Artists | Mark Nauseef (US)

Mark Nauseef (born 1953, in Cortland, New York) is a drummer and percussionist.

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. Later he joined the Ian Gillan Band till 1978.
During the 1980s, Nauseef moved away from rock music towards a wide 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 many other musicians in an array of different projects.
Nauseef has performed and/or recorded with such artists as Joachim Kühn, Gary Moore, Jack Bruce, Bill Laswell, 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, Balinese Gamelan, North Indian Pakhawaj drumming, North Indian music theory, Ghanaian drumming and dance, 20th Century Western percussion techniques and hand drumming. He also studied frame drum techniques of the Middle East, India and the Caucasus.
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 a wide range of music in situations 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 such as 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.