Biography

Jerry Leake is Professor of Percussion at Berklee College of Music, where he has taught since 2000, and has been on the faculty of the New England Conservatory since 1991. A percussionist, composer and author, he has spent decades studying the rhythmic traditions of West Africa, North and South India, and beyond.

He leads the world-rock-fusion octet Cubist, is a co-founder of the world-music ensemble Natraj, and is a founding member of the groove collective Club d'Elf. On tabla he has accompanied Ali Akbar Khan, Steve Gorn, George Ruckert and many others, and he has toured with Persian masters Shahram and Hafez Nazeri and flamenco guitarist Juanito Pascual. He has released eight albums of his own music, now available on Spotify and Apple Music.

Jerry studied jazz vibraphone with Gary Burton at Berklee, tabla with Rajiv Devasthali in Pune, and Carnatic rhythm with T. K. Ramakrishnan in Chennai. His African studies include Dagomba drumming with Dolsi-naa Abubakari Lunna and Ewe music with Godwin Agbeli and David Locke.

He is the author of thirteen books on rhythm and percussion, including Relating Sound & Time and the Series A.I.M. texts, along with articles for Percussive Notes. He also writes fiction, with ten books to date including the Jack's Alive trilogy, and four illustrated books.

He teaches private lessons, in person and on Zoom, in drum set, tabla, congas, vibraphone and world rhythm theory.