Joe Caploe

Caploe started studying percussion with Stuart Marrs whileliving in La Paz, Bolivia. His experience of living in Bolivia influencedhis interest in music from other cultures. Returning to the San FranciscoBay Area to go to high school he played in Rainbow Feel, a band that playedoriginal music influenced by Herbie Hancock, Mile Davis, John Coltrane, SunRa, John McLaughlin, McCoy Tyner, Tower of Power, the Grateful Dead, Santanaand the rest of the thriving Bay Area music scene. He continued studyingpercussion at San Jose State with Anthony Cirone (San Francisco Symphony) ,Dan Sabonovich and composer Lou Harrison, putting himself through schoolplaying in funk and jazz bands. His first original band to work in the BayArea was Egress, comprised of like minded fellow students from San JoseState. He then worked with David Ladd & Video Jazz a popular Latin Jazzgroup that played in clubs through the Bay Area. Feeling the need to studyWorld Music he left the Bay Area to attend California Institute of the Artsin Valencia CA where he received a Masters of Fine Arts in 1985. At Cal ArtsCaploe studied with John Bergamo, Ed Mann, Charlie Haden, Neoman Wenten,Taranath Rao, Francis Awe and the Ladzekpo Brothers. Upon returning to theBay Area Caploe lead various groups including Red Alert, Cielo with LouieRomero, New World Percussion, the Classic Jazz Quartet and Neck N Neck, theband he recorded "Hearsay"with, his first release on Nextagem. He alsofound time to work and record with Todd Phillips, Tom Taylor, BabtundeOlatunji and African Rain, Darbi Slick, Joe Weed, Smith Dobson, ManabuIshikawa, the San Jose Civic Light Opera, the San Jose Symphony, SwapanChauduri and the Ali Akbar Percussion Ensemble, the Ian Dogole Unit, MartanMann, Music Theater Group of New York and Claudio Amaral among many others.