A percussionist is a musician who plays a percussion instrument. Although drummers and vibraphonists are considered percussionists, this list only includes percussionists known for playing a variety of percussion instruments. There is a separate list of drummers and list of vibraphonists. If a percussionist specializes in a particular instrument, it is listed in parentheses.
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Excluding zoomusicological instruments and the human voice, the percussion family is believed to include the oldest musical instruments. In spite of being a very common term to designate instruments, and to relate them to their players, the percussionists, percussion is not a systematic classificatory category of instruments, as described by the scientific field of organology. It is shown below that percussion instruments may belong to the organological classes of idiophone, membranophone, aerophone and chordophone.
A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums.
Sheila Cecilia Escovedo, known under the stage name Sheila E., is an American singer and drummer. She began her career in the mid-1970s as a percussionist for the George Duke Band. After separating from the group in 1983, Sheila began collaborating with Prince and launched a solo career, starting with the release of her debut album in 1984, which included her biggest hit "The Glamorous Life". She also saw a hit with the 1985 single "A Love Bizarre". She is sometimes referred to as the "Queen of Percussion". In 2021, she received a Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Timbales or pailas are shallow single-headed drums with metal casing. They are shallower than single-headed tom-toms and usually tuned much higher, especially for their size. They were developed as an alternative to classical timpani in Cuba in the early 20th century and later spread across Latin America and the United States.
Alphonse Lee Mouzon was an American musician and vocalist, most prominently known as a jazz fusion drummer. He was also a composer, arranger, producer, and actor. Mouzon gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was the owner of Tenacious Records, a label that primarily released Mouzon's recordings.
Alejandro Neciosup Acuña, known professionally as Alex Acuña, is a Peruvian–American jazz drummer and percussionist.
Pete Lockett is an English percussionist and recording artist. He retired from performance and commercial recording in 2022. Lockett is known as a versatile and prolific percussionist, collaborating with many artists. He is well-versed in percussion traditions from music cultures around the world, from traditional Carnatic and Hindustani music of North and South India to traditional Japanese taiko drumming, with a style ranging from blues, funk and rock to classical, folk and ethnic and from Arabic to Electronic. His instruments include tabla, mridangam, kanjira, ghatam, vocal percussion, dholak, naal, bhangra dhol from north and south India; darabuka, req, bendir, frame-drums from the Middle East; congas, bongos, timbales and berimbau from Latin American; as well as the Irish bodhran, Nigerian udu, West African djembe, Japanese taiko, Western drum set, and many custom percussion effects and self-built instruments. He also works extensively with electronics and samplers, both live and in the studio, to create densely alternative percussion fabrics.
Sikiru Adepoju is a Nigerian percussionist and recording artist, primarily in the genres of traditional African music and world music. He plays a variety of instruments and styles.
Joseph Thomas "Coke" Escovedo was an American percussionist, who came from a prominent musical family including five musician brothers and his niece, Sheila E. He played in various genres, including R&B, jazz fusion and soul, with bands including Santana, Malo, Cal Tjader, and Azteca.
Francisco Aguabella was an Afro-Cuban percussionist whose career spanned folk, jazz, and dance bands. He was a prolific session musician and recorded seven albums as a leader.
Vater Percussion is an American manufacturing company based in Holbrook, Massachusetts. The company has always focused on percussion instruments, producing drum sticks, brushes and mallets. It was founded by Jack Adams, and later run by his two grandsons Ron and Alan Vater.
Matthias Dahms is a German virtuoso vibraphone and marimba soloist, percussionist and composer. He has been a percussion soloist ever since 1990, giving concerts and drum courses and mallet-instrument classes in Europe as well as overseas.
Daniel de los Reyes is an American percussionist who is a former member of Earth, Wind & Fire and Chicago. He is currently a member of the Zac Brown Band. He is the oldest member of the band.
Peter Michael Escovedo III is an American percussionist and musical director.
Marcos Reyes ~ Marcos J. Reyes, born in 1960 in Bakersfield, California to parents from Chihuahua, Mexico, has been the Latin percussionist for the American progressive soul band War since 1998.
Diga is an album by the Diga Rhythm Band, a percussion-based music ensemble led by Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart and by Zakir Hussain. It was released by Round Records as a vinyl LP in 1976. It was remixed and released on CD by Rykodisc Records in 1988.
Walfredo Reyes Jr. is a Cuban American musician who is an expert in drum set and auxiliary percussion, and a music educator and clinician. He has performed with many jazz, Latin, World music, World fusion, Afro-Cuban, and rock bands as a touring, session recording, and full-time player/performer.
A Brazilian Love Affair is the fourteenth studio album by American keyboardist and record producer George Duke. It was released in 1980 through Epic Records. Recording sessions for the album took place from March 1979 to April 1979 at Level E Hawai Recording Studio in Rio de Janeiro and at Westlake Recording Studios with additional recording at Le Gonks West Studio in West Hollywood, California. It was mastered by Brian Gardner at Allen Zentz Recording Studio in Los Angeles.
Master of the Game is the thirteenth studio album by American keyboardist and record producer George Duke. It was released in 1979 through Epic Records. Recording sessions for this full-length album took place at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles. The album features contributions from vocalists Lynn Davis, Josie James and Napoleon Murphy Brock, guitarists David Myles, Ray Obiedo and Roland Bautista, bassists Byron Miller and Freddie Washington, drummer Ricky Lawson, percussionist Sheila Escovedo, trombonist Bill Reichenbach, trumpeters Jerry Hey and Gary Grant, and saxophonist Gary Herbig.