Rick Nair

Rick Nair is a versatile drummer, bandleader and writer based in Minneapolis. A native of Manhattan, Rick has played with hundreds of artists, including several internationally recognized musicians. Performance credits include cross-genre innovator Moby, rapper Speech (of Arrested Development), Jamaican rock and pop legend Phil Chen, and the great bassist Ron Carter.

Rick's current projects include jazz-funk quintet President Flow, classic reggae outfit The Skruffians, dub-jazz trio Prince Leia, the gypsy-style Carluster Crumplebee Orchestra, Kairos Alive, the Sarah Streitz band, the Chris Hagedorn Quartet, Emoji Virtuosi, the John Seymour Trio, and a number of other groups. In the arena of Jamaican-inspired music, he provided rhythm for notable NYC reggae and ska artists Skadanks, Rocker-T, King Django, None Of The Above, and King Django's Skinnerbox. In recent years, he has appeared with Minnesota musicians Peter Vircks, Joe Mayo, Ron Evaniuk, Park Evans, Josh Granowski, Church of Cash, Dr. Michael Gold, Thomas Nordlund, Tom Lieberman, Jeff Goldstein, Mary Cutrufello, Bob Ockenden, Shinola, Todd Harper, Paul Renz, Seth Hogan, Steve Katz, Dizzy Hat, Jon Sergott, and many more. As a young musician, Rick also had opportunities to play with Grammy-winning Latin bassist John Benitez, Phil the Tremolo King, and BOC's Albert Bouchard. He has shared bills with recording artists like Eek-A-Mouse, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Human Rights (HR of Bad Brains), the Spin Doctors and more.

Rick has been playing drums for more than 35 years and is always eager to learn more. He received a BFA in jazz performance from the City College of New York/CUNY in 1995, studying closely with jazz legends Ron Carter and Charli Persip, his private drum-set teacher. Rick was a graduate student in music education at Hunter College/CUNY and learned rhythm and ensemble playing from teachers including Dan Carillo, Mike Holober, Ray Santos, Joe Cusatis, Bob Weiner and Frank Malabe. He also received a Master of Arts in counseling from Argosy University. His favorite artistic collaborators are his sons, Jude P. and Dimitri D.

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