Rick Nair, a Manhattan native, is a versatile drummer, bandleader and writer based in Minneapolis. He has performed with a wide variety of artists in genres including jazz, ska, reggae, rock, pop, R&B, modern dance and hip hop. Rick has performed with rapper Speech (of Arrested Development), dancehall innovators Skadanks and Rocker-T, ska OGs Skinnerbox NYC and King Django, the category-resistant Moby, bass icon Phil Chen and jazz titan Ron Carter. A sometimes active sideman since the 1980s, he has been fortunate to play with the Skruffians, John Benitez, Phil the Tremolo King, Dave Martin, Kai Dahl, Sarah Streitz, John Seymour, Park Evans, Thomas Nordlund, Peter Vircks, Joe Mayo, Michael Gold, Jazz Impact, Church of Cash, Big Sunflower, Tom Lieberman, Mary Cutrufello, Dizzy Hat, Ron Evaniuk, Stephen Kung, Chris Hagedorn, Josh Granowski, Brad Holden, Cody Steinmann, Paul Harper, Shrewd Mammals, Tom Pieper, Dave Graf, Dave Brattain, DJ Flavor Crystals, Jeff Goldstein, Dimitri Ehrlich, Kairos Alive, the Carluster Crumplebee Orchestra and hundreds of others. He once actually played cowbell on “Don’t Fear the Reaper” with Blue Oyster Cult's Albert Bouchard. As a leader, Rick’s bands have included Normal University, President Flow, Rick Nair Quartet and Prince Leia. He has opened for major acts like Black Uhuru, Spin Doctors, HR (of Bad Brains), Third World, Eek A Mouse and Lee “Scratch” Perry.
Rick earned a BFA in jazz performance from the City College of New York, studying closely with masters Ron Carter and Charli Persip. He was a graduate student in music education at Hunter College and learned rhythm and ensemble playing from teachers including Dan Carillo, Mike Holober, Ray Gallon, Ray Santos, Joe Cusatis, Bob Weiner and Frank Malabe. He received a Master of Arts in counseling from Argosy University.