Joey De Leon, Jr.
Afro-Latin Drumming
Joey De Leon Jr., has performed with and recorded artists such as Queen Latifah, Al Jarreau, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Spanish Harlem Orchestra, Juan Gabriel, Jennifer Lopez, Barry Manilow, Bette Midler, Cyndi Lauper, and Tan Dun. A Grammy winner with Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band and Arturo Sandoval, he also spent over a decade with Poncho Sanchez’s Latin Jazz Band and has contributed to numerous film and TV scores.
Joey holds a bachelor’s degree in classical percussion from the prestigious Manhattan School of Music, where he received the George Schick Award for Most Outstanding Musicianship. Born in New York City and raised in the South Bronx and North Bergen, New Jersey, he hails from a long lineage of musicians.
Joey has been a Teaching Artist since 2021, offering Afro-Latin drumming courses at Ironwood State Prison. Joey also teaches privately, conducts clinics and workshops, and serves as an adjunct faculty member at the California Institute of the Arts.
