Mark Nauseef - 1983 - Wun-Wun

Mark Nauseef

1983

Wun-Wun

01. Colotomix 8:53
02. Language (It's Medicinal) 9:44
03. Quilts (A Patchwork Dance) 10:11
04. Jones 6:09
05. Colotomix II 2:10

Jack Bruce: Vocals
Mark Nauseef: Percussion
Trilok Gurtu: Percussion
Walter Quintus: Violin

Recorded at Brunwey Studios (Hamburg), Wendelstein Studios (Miesbach) and Rocksound Studios (Munich) ... at various times between January and May 1984.

Nauseef got his start in the 1970s, as he drummed on recordings by such rock outfits as Elf (a band that featured a pre-Rainbow/Black Sabbath Ronnie James Dio on vocals), a post-Lou Reed version of the Velvet Underground, the Ian Gillan Band, as a fill-in for Thin Lizzy during an Australian tour (which is documented on the Lizzy home video The Boys Are Back in Town), Jack Bruce, Andy Summers, and Gary Moore, among others. But it wasn't long before Nauseef broadened his horizons and began drumming with non-rock artists: Joachim Kühn, Rabih Abou-Khalil, Trilok Gurtu, Kyai Kunbul (Javanese gamelan), the Ladzekpo Brothers (Ghanaian music and dance), and the Gamelan Orchestra of Saba (Balinese gamelan).

Since the early 80s, Nauseef has sporadically issued his own solo albums: 1983's Personal Notes and Sura, 1984's Wun-Wun, 1995's Snake Music, and 2000's With Space in Mind. In addition to his percussion talents, Nauseef has also produced other artists, including recordings of traditional Balinese and Javanese music, a few of which later appeared on the compilation CMPIer, Vol. 1: 3000 Series. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide

Over thirty years of international concert tours, numerous recordings in Europe, Asia and the USA, and hands-on research of Indonesian, Indian and African musics are some of the main elements which have influenced the music of American born Mark Nauseef. It is a music enriched by the great artists he has played with and the master musicians with whom he has studied.

Mark has performed and/or recorded in an unusually wide variety of musical situations with such artists as, amongst others, Joachim Kühn, Jack Bruce, Rabih Abou-Khalil, Trilok Gurtu, Steve Swallow, L.Shankar, Hamza El Din, The Velvet Underground, Markus Stockhausen, Gary Moore, Kyai Kunbul (Javanese Gamelan), Andy Summers, Ian Gillan, Tony Oxley, Tomaz 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 and Lou Harrison. Through most of these projects Mark has relied on his collaboration with Walter Quintus, the master of the Craft of Sound.

Nauseef studied Javanese Gamelan with K.R.T. Wasitodiningrat, Balinese Gamelan with I. Nyoman Wenten, North Indian Pakhawaj drumming with Pandit Taranath Rao and Pandit Amiya Dasgupta, Ghanaian drumming and dance with Kobla and Alfred Ladzekpo, Dzidzogbe Lawulvi and C.K. Ganyo, and 20th Century Western percussion techniques and hand drumming with John Bergamo and Glen Velez.

In addition to his own recordings, Nauseef has also worked as a producer. He recently returned from Indonesia where he produced recordings of traditional Balinese and Javanese music, some of which have been released on the CMP 3000 "World Series". Mark was instrumental in establishing this series which presents traditional musics from a variety of non-Western cultures.

All of this flows into drummer Mark Nauseef's music, and, together with his own personal means of expression, make up his distinctive sound. DOWN BEAT magazine has called his recordings "mysteriously moving, thoroughly personal and boundary mocking."

Is it jazz? That’s a repetitive refrain that I’ve been proposing lately to this blog. Native New Yorker, Mark Nauseef’s Wun-Wun is classified under the jazz moniker but it doesn’t sound remotely like it. It all begins with percussive motifs that speak of improv and “free” ideas but settle into Pan-Pacific movements that require very personal, immediate expression, expressing this back to the listener — you get the ideas behind Mark’s work…even if you’re not entirely sure where they’re coming from.

Mark’s bio in a short, concise form can be summed up as “Johnny come lately.” Spurning a career in auto-mechanics, Mark took inspiration from his New York-Lebanese family’s roots in percussion and pursued music instead. A percussionist and drummer, Mark’s personal biography highlights early stints in Europe with bands like Dio’s Elf, Rainbow, Thin Lizzy, and Doug Yule-led The Velvet Underground, bands that sound entirely alien to what you’ll hear on Wun-Wun.

For a brief moment in his life, it appeared staying in the rock field would be his destiny. However, various failed stints with rock bands and (likely) creative nadirs inherent in such styles led him to chase something else and re-educate himself in ways that would be more fruitful. Deciding to strike out in exploratory work referencing his study in Indian, Asian, and African music, he signed to Germany’s shifty-style independent jazz label, CMP Records and record the first of his many early albums in Germany. Undeterred by the change in focus, Mark would enlist none other than musicians like Phil Lynott, Jan Akkerman, Joachim Kühn, and Trilok Gurtu (the latter two known to straddle the line between world music and jazz) to help him on his debut.