Bios

Bruce
Beaton
J.D.
Doug devros
Shafer

Negara plays mostly original material, with influences ranging from Middle-Eastern, North and West African and Spanish to rock, jazz and blues. The music allows inventive strings and horns to ride over tightly knit percussion that can span the range from delicate to intense, from mesmerizing to infectiously danceable. The music is rooted in ethnic tradition yet is thoroughly contemporary.

Doug Shafer
Doug Shafer is a Portland, Oregon musician and artist. He has played guitar for many years, and has added ethnic traditional stringed instruments, including oud, cumbus, and saz. Doug also plays a wide variety of hand drums from the Middle East and South Asia. Doug has studied with a variety of well-known and respected musicians including Karim Nagi, Souhail Kaspar, Tobias Roberson and Naser Musa.

Doug is also a member of the Krebsic Orkestar and the Underscore Orkestra and is a veteran of numerous other Portland bands.

As a visual artist, Doug makes paintings and one-of-a-kind illuminated manuscripts. His work has been exhibited in various galleries and museums around the country and has been purchased by a number of prominent collectors and institutions, including the National Gallery in Washington DC and Harvard University in Cambridge, Ma.

J.D. Devros
J.D.Devros is a composer/songwriter, musician, poet, and author of numerous short stories and screenplays. His array of strings includes traditional instruments such as the oud, cumbus, and saz. He has played guitar and related stringed instruments for many years and in many genres, including acoustic folk, hard core punk, ska, blues, alt-rock, and avant-garde/experimental. His band Big Medicine Head played the CMJ Festival in New York City, and was voted the “Best Band in Santa Cruz” two years in a row. He recently returned to Santa Cruz to perform at the Y2K07 International Looping Festival.

Chris Jacobson
Chris Jacobson is an active player of Middle-eastern and West African drums and percussion. Chris has studied in recent years with master Arabic percussionist Souhail Kaspar and at the Middle-Eastern Music and Dance Camp in Mendocino. In addition Chris has studied extensively with and performs with master West African drummer and dancer Nii Ardey Allotey. His studies in African drumming also include travels to Ghana in West Africa and studies with Mamady Keita, Obo Addy and Chata Addy.
 Chris has been a member of Mizna (part of Portland’s Gypsy Caravan), Nii Ardey Allotey & Friends and other Portland bands.

Sean Molloy
Sean Molloy, a Portland native with a doctorate in Neuroscience, was first drawn to middle-eastern music through a love of Tribal Style bellydance. Although originally attracted by the power of the dance, he was equally seduced by the unique blend of musical styles and rhythms and put his experience as a kit drummer to use while performing with Portland bands Mizna (part of the Gypsy Caravan) and others.

Bruce Beaton
Bruce was raised in the United States, traveling constantly with his air force family during the 50's and 60's. Originally playing the saxophone, he switched instruments and bought a set of conga drums. After many years of Afro-Cuban lessons, he traveled to Egypt and the Mediterranean where he was introduced to the exotic sounds of the Middle East. He became the first drummer for the Gypsy Caravan in 1991 and spent sixteen years creating, producing and performing with them. He now spends much of his musical time recording with Graphic Recliner. We are pleased that he has returned to live performing as part of Negara.

For 34 years Bruce has been a medical/surgical photographer and currently owns his own commercial/corporate photography business.

Miguel Maldonado
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Miguel started studying clarinet at 19, switching to tenor sax at 22. He soon added soprano sax and flute as well as other wind instruments and percussion from around the world. He played in Florida in a very busy Blues band where he became involved with the Carribean community, performing with notable steel drummer Tony Kitchner (Lord Kitchner's son), Jr. Pussette's Disney World steel band (The Silver Stars), and Othello Mollineaux. In Oregon he performed with African drummers O.B. Addy and Chata Addy, and in Maui, Hawaii with Willie Nelson and Pat Simmons (Doobie Brothers).

Miguel can also be heard on his debut recording of original compositions, The Dreamer and the Dreamed.

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