New Orleans drummer Herman Lebeaux has held the drum chair with Allen Toussaint's band since 1996 — a jazz-trained educator who has played with everyone from Fats Domino to Lenny Kravitz and appeared in the film Ray.
Biography
Herman Lebeaux is a New Orleans native drummer, composer, arranger, and educator who has held the drum chair with Allen Toussaint's band since 1996. He emerged on the scene in the early 1980s, earned his bachelor's from Xavier University and a master's from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he studied under Max Roach. His credits run from Toussaint's recordings and the Keep It Funky documentary to playing the drummer in Ray Charles' band in the Oscar-winning film Ray.
When he isn't touring, Lebeaux teaches — at NOCCA, Xavier University, and the University of New Orleans — and leads the Herman LeBeaux Quartet. He has shared stages with Fats Domino, Irma Thomas, Kermit Ruffins, Bonnie Raitt, and Lenny Kravitz, and he plays the Saturday Allen Toussaint tribute at NOLA Funk Fest 2026.
Sources
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