Leon Mobley

Who is Leon Mobley?

Leon Mobley is a percussionist and drummer, founder and artistic and musical director of Da Lion and Djimbe West African Drummers and Dancers and a member of the Innocent Criminals, Ben Harper's band. He is working with Damian Marley and Nas on the project called "Distant Relatives". Leon Mobley began as a child actor on PBS Television show Zoom, and has toured the globe as drummer/percussionist with Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals.

Mobley began playing African drums in 1967, studying for 10 years under the tutelage of Nigerian master drummer Babatunde Olatunji at the Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1977 Mobley studied under the directorship of Senegalese master drummer Ibrahim Camara while a member of the Bokan-Deye Dance Company. Mobley was invited to South Africa in 1991 to perform with returning exiles Letta Mbulu, Caiphus Semenya, and Hugh Masekela.

Mobley studied and performed from 1979 to 1981 in Surinam, South America, Trinidad & Tobago and throughout the West Indies. He continued his studies during 1982 in Senegal and Gambia. In 1987 and 1992 he traveled to Japan, where he taught and performed West African Drumming and Dancing.