Drummer Tony Leone grew up in the suburbs of Hartford, CT. He started playing in bands at age 11 and has been playing music ever since. He attended the Hartt School of Music from '87-'91 and studied Jazz with alto sax great, Jackie McLean. During this time he had the chance to meet, play with and study with many greats of the so called "Hard Bop" era in Jazz.Since moving to NYC in 1998 Leone has performed with a wide variety of Jazz artists. A short list includes Illinois Jacquet, Lou Donaldson, Slide Hampton, Horace Parlan, Harold Mabern, Mike Ledonne, Randy Johnston, Joe Magnarelli , Kuumba Frank Lacy, Eric Alexander, and Grant Stewart.In 2002 he became one of the founding members of the band Ollabelle, who has released records on Columbia DMZ, and Verve/Forecast. The band has been very fortunate to appear and perform with Alison Krauss, Ralph Stanley, Diana Krall, Elvis Costello, Ryan Adams, Buddy Miller, Donald Fagen and Phoebe Snow. Ollabelle was signed to Columbia DMZ by producer T Bone Burnett and their first record features an appearance by Levon Helm father of Ollabelle member Amy Helm. Their second CD, "Riverside Battlesongs", was produced by former Dylan sideman Larry Campbell. During this time Ollabelle made regular appearances at Levon Helm's "Midnight Ramble" as well as opening for him at the Beacon Theater and Ryman Auditorium.Outside of Ollabelle, Leone has performed and recorded with a wide variety of artists including Dave Spalding (formerly of Pell Mell), Glenn Patscha, Brian Cullman, Steven Bernstein' Millennial Territory Orchestra, Jorma Kaukonen, The Lowdowners, The Chris Bergson Band, The Jay Collins Band, Chip Taylor, The Flatlanders, Bill Mc Garvey, Jim White, Black Bunny, Kendall Carson,The Yearlings, and Clare Burson.Recent appearances include some touring with Rickie Lee Jones, The Levon Helm Band, and Chip Taylor.In april of 2007 the rhythm section of Ollabelle was featured as the house band for a benefit tribute concert spotlighting the music of Bruce Springsteen. Glenn, Byron and Tony, along w/ Oren Bloedow, backed Badly Drawn Boy, M Ward, and came out for the finale "Rosalita" with "The Boss" himself.In April 2008 Leone was the drummer for a concert that commemorated the Hal Wilner produced album "Stay Awake". The concert featured a wide variety of artists singing Vintage Disney songs backed by a full big band and string section. David Byrne, Suzanne Vega, Garth Hudson, Sharon Jones, David Johansen, Terry Adams and Marshall Royal all performed.
