During thundering rehearsals for Rio de Janeiro’s world famous carnival, eleven-year old Léo Costa was thrown into the fray by his father and left to learn rhythm from the old-school master percussionists of the historic Salgueiro group. Not knowing quite what he started, Leo’s father signed his son up for drum lessons and subsequently put up with Leo’s sofa-drumming and hand-crafted drum sets for a year before going to São Paulo to buy him a proper drum kit.



Léo Costa grew up playing in local bands and finding equal inspiration from discovering drum legends like Billy Cobham and Dennis Chambers, as well as listening to the ubiquitous and flawless samba of his hometown of Rio de Janeiro. When the time came to choose a course for his higher education, Leo opted for Boston’s Berklee College of Music in spite of being accepted at other universities in Brazil for psychology and engineering.



In 2002 Leo graduated with a Professional Music Degree, which served as an umbrella for studies in performance, arranging, and music synthesis. The slant of music synthesis delivered powerful tools for Leo to think outside of drums and percussion by introducing him to production and programming within the modern realms of hip hop and drum n bass.



After graduating Léo Costa jumped into professional life in Boston and then headed out to the west coast, first Oakland and then Los Angeles, where he continues to live and work as a studio and live drummer.



Léo Costa's growing and impressive resume spans a wide range of notable and major recording artists like Grammy Award winners K.D. Lang and Keb Mo, Sophie B. Hawkins, Sergio Mendes, Los Lobos, The Wailers frontman Elan, Taio Cruz and film, game and TV credits including FOX's Rio, ABC’s 'Samantha Who', 'Killing Pablo' (Christian Bale, Javier Bardem, Chris Pine), 'Assassin's Creed Brotherhood' and BET’s 'Lucky'.



Léo Costa has also played for international recording artists such as Mexican pop star Gloria Trevi, Grammy nominated singer Diego Torres, Latin Idol winner Anais, as well as prominent Brazilian artists Pepeu Gomes, Baby Consuelo, Marcos Ariel, Weber Iago, Alexandre Pires, and revered local heroes Kátia Moraes and Brasil-Brazil.



In 2005 Leo played the Latin Grammy Awards and in 2008 he played the Hollywood Music Awards and also appeared on numerous Univision and Telemundo performances. With dexterity ranging from funky, gritty grooves to the complex feel of samba, jazz, and literally everything in between, Leo Costa plays with an authentic, inspired, and soulful intelligence.