The son of a classical violinist and a ballet instructor, Claudio Slon was born in Argentian on November 12, 1943. He was raised in São Paulo, Brazil and began recording professionally at an early age, taking first place in a national poll of jazz critics while still a teenager. He performed alongside his father in the Sao Paulo Philharmonic, before appearing with the Walter Wanderley Trio, as well as Sergio Mendes' Brasil '66 and Brasil ‘77 during the 1960s and 1970s.



Claudio Slon signed with producer Creed Taylor to record in New York as part of the Walter Wanderley Trio; their single for Verve Records ("Summer Samba") reached #3 in Billboard Magazine's singles chart; their first album release ("Rain Forest") was awarded Platinum status in 1970.



Slon continued his studio work in New York, moving after a year to California, where he worked and toured with groups in the Jazz, Latin, Country, Brazilian, and Rhythm and Blues idioms, as well as continuing his studio work as drummer, percussionist, and producer.



Claudio Slon also co-led (with Milcho Leviev) the Leviev-Slon Quartet, releasing albums for Vartan Jazz (Jive Sambas, among others) and then for Elephant Records (“When I'm 64”), the latter recorded with Herbie Mann.



The last Trio of which he was the drummer was the newly formed Joao Donato Trio in 1999, where that group recorded three albums on Elephant. In addition to being a top notch drummer, Claudio was also an excellent Brazilian percussionist and recorded as such on several albums.



Slon was based out of Los Angeles for many years before relocating in the mid-90s to Colorado where he continued to work as a drummer, percussionist, and producer until his death from lung cancer in April, 2002.