Leo LaBarge

Leo started playing drums when he was 7, building a set of “found objects” in the basement of a tenement in Union City, N.J. Since then he has worked with many different projects. Leo attended Ramapo College of N.J. where he connected with the burgeoning music scene in the Ramapo Valley. He was a member of the "Bear People Quintet", an alternative jazz group that appeared throughout N.Y., N.J., Vermont, and at The Blue Note (7th Ave. NYC). Leo also performed with the poet Bob Hennelly, and a dance project, “The Catherine Wheel”. In the late 80’s Leo played at various NYC venues and toured Holland with an R&B band from Pennsylvania, "The Steamin' Jimmies". In 2000-2004 he played with "Shot of Redemption", a folk-jazz group from Central N.J., and also with "Unsung Heroes" in Northern N.J. and in the Allentown/Easton area with "Fuzzy Dice”', another R&B trio. 2006-7 found him with the "Lee DelRay Band", a roots blues trio from Scranton Pa. In 2009 Leo began an association with a trio of musicians from India, which resulted in the ongoing fusion project tentatively called “Gou-Dilla” or Breath of Dawn. During his career, Leo has performed with Bob Krueger, Alexander Fox, Tony Marino, Steve Freeman, Harry Leahy, Joe Battaglia, Pranab Kumar Biswas, Christian Fabian, Aditya Banerjee, Mark Bernstein, Partha Chatterjee,Jeff Slome,Judy Aron, Michelle Boutier, Mo Rolland, "Chasing June", Joe Steinwand,Lou Slamer "Perfect Angle" Firo Rodriquez,and Steve Gilmore, and any number of wedding and club date bands. Leo has studied with Muzzy Mizzoni, Ronnie Bedford, Bill Goodwin, Arjuna Allan Bruggeman, Billy Ward, and Milford Graves. Leo has recently joined the local jam band “Moving Company” and is performing with them across northern New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Leo has taught snare drum and drumset privately since 1986. His students are working professionally locally, in New York City, and along the East Coast. Leo is currently a special education teacher at a public school in NJ, having earned his Master of Arts degree in 2014.

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