Leo surrounded with what he loves most - Drums

Hello, my name is Leo Brooks, a percussionist from Canada's national capital region. In January 2000 I founded Treefrog Percussion as a company face for the numerous activities I do to keep myself busy. These include, most notably, building and repairing percussion instruments, particularly Hand Drums, as well as teaching classes, workshops and school programs.

I also try to keep members of my community involved in drumming related activities by writing a newsletter called Talking Drums, which I send out as often as I am able.

To find out more about what I do, please click on one of the categories on the right.

Thanks for visiting - feel free to contact me if you have any questions!

Leo Brooks

Leo with the first drum he ever completed in early 2000

As a young child, Leo loved to pull the pots and pans out of the cupboard to bang on them and never outgrew the habit — so it’s easy to understand why his percussion skills have been developing for more than half his life. Born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, Leo earned a Bachelor of Music (with distinction) at University of Lethbridge. In his early years, Leo performed as a percussionist in numerous ensembles including the Calgary Youth Orchestra and the National Youth Band.

After moving to Canada’s National Capital region in 1997, Leo became passionate about hand drumming. Much of his development in this area was self directed, although he was able to study periodically with Michael Marcus of New York and djembe master Famoudou Konaté. The highlight of his hand drumming education came in early 2006, when Leo undertook a 10 week study tour through Guinea, Mali and Nigeria.

Leo now makes his home with his wife, son and daughter in Gatineau, Quebec. Here he spends his time teaching, building and repairing hand drums. He is constantly reaching out for new boundaries and seeking to improve his skills. “There is nothing that fascinates me more than the examination of percussion traditions from around the world” he says. “Percussion is a vast world unto itself — my goal in life is to touch a little bit of everything within it”.

Sebastian the Treefrog

Treefrog Percussion is the unofficial business name for Leo’s many pursuits as a musician. When the idea came to Leo to start his own company, he spent many days trying to find the perfect name for it. After coming up with nothing better than “Drums-R-Us” Leo had an epiphany while watching his pet red-eyed treefrog, Sebastian, who at the time was living in an aquarium on the kitchen table.

Originally the name was intended only to be used as a brand name for the hand-made instruments of Leo’s design - still its most significant function. But now the name, along with this website, is used as an umbrella for all that Leo does – from creating percussion instruments to refurbishing drums to teaching at schools to doing workshops at seniors’ centres to performing with friends.

So please, browse around and feel free to email us any comments, questions or queries.

Thanks for stopping by!

Drums make great Babysitters. Leo's daughter Naomi - 5 Mos.

Here is the page on the website that will list events or sales worthy of note. This information will also invariably be found in the Talking Drums Newsletter.

Workshops and concerts with the incredible M'Bemba Bangoura!

Catherine Veilleux and DJEMBE.CA presents
Guinea master drummer
M'BEMBA BANGOURA
West-African drum and dance workshops and concert
April 17th-20th 2008

All details on www.djembe.ca