Marc Anderson

Marc Dennis Anderson (born December 10, 1955) is an American born percussionist, composer, poet and Zen Buddhist priest. Best known for records and live performances with guitarist and composer Steve Tibbetts, he has recorded and performed with dozens of notable artists. His interests and studies in non-western instruments and musical traditions are a signature of his sound and technical style.

Early life and education

Anderson was born in Austin, Minnesota, the son of Truman Anderson and Mary Lou Regner. He is the oldest of 5 children. He attended Austin Central High School and holds a degree in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Minnesota.

Career

In 1977 Anderson met and began working with Steve Tibbetts who had just started working his second record. That record, titled YR, led to their first recording with the prestigious German record company ECM and legendary producer Manfred Eicher. In the fall of 1982 the two flew to Oslo, Norway and recorded Northern Song, the first of many recordings the pair would make over the next several decades. Through the 1980s and 1990s Anderson became a stalwart in the Twin Cities music community as a sideman and bandleader performing and recording in a wide range of musical and artistic environments including; free improvisation, traditional Irish, Ghanaian, Finnish and Americana folk music, experimental, avant-garde, jazz and pop. He also produced a number of records including two recordings as leader and composer: Time Fish and Ruby. He has toured extensively in the US, Europe and Asia. He was the founder of two Twin Cities musical groups: Eight head and Speaking In Tongues. His most recent musical project in called Music and Words. In the early 1980s he met Sowah Mensah, a musician and teacher from Ghana, launching a friendship and new musical direction. Anderson went on to study Ghanaian music with Mensah and with teachers in Ghana for many years. He has also studied Haitian ritual drumming with John Amira in New York, spent time with the great frame drum master Glen Velez, took study abroad trips to China and Brazil and spent several years studying tabla with Marcus Wise and djembe drumming with Foday Bangoura in the Twin Cities.

Zen

Anderson began doing transcendental meditation in 1983. Eventually landing with a local Zen community he went on to study Zen with Dosho Mike Port and was a founding and long time member at Clouds In Water Zen Center. He was ordained in 2007 by Togen Robin Moss. Anderson runs a community based project called The Urban Monk Project – facilitating meditation sessions, retreats and developmental training programs.

Partial discography

As leader/composer/producer

Time Fish - 1993 Ruby -2002 Festival Africa - 2001 World Music - 2002

With Steve Tibbetts

Yr – 1980 Northern Song – 1981 Safe Journey – 1984 Exploded View - 1986 Big Map Idea – 1988 The Fall Of Us All – 1994 Cho (with Choying Drolma) – 1997 A (with Knute Hamre) - 1998 A Man About A Horse – 2002 Selwa (with Choying Drolma) – 2004 Natural Causes – 2010 Life Of - 2018

As a sideman with

David Sylvian and Robert Fripp

The First Day -1993

Peter Ostroushko

Heart of the Heartland – 1995 Pilgrims On The Heart Road - 1997 Coming Down From Red Lodge – 2003 Sacred Heart - 2000 Minnesota A History Of The Land – 2005 Heartland Holiday - 2005 Postcards - 2006

Greg Brown

One More Goodnight Kiss – 1988

Peter Mayer

Million Year Mind (artist and producer) - 1999 Bountiful (artist and producer) – 2000 Elements (artist and producer) -2001 Earth Town Square (artist and producer) -2003 Midwinter – 2005 Novelties - 2007

Claudia Schmidt

It Looks Fine From here – 1994

Ruth Mackenzie

Kalevala: Dream Of The Salmon Maiden - 1998