Tom Mattioli born 1968, Rochester, NY, raised in Madison, WI, resides in Brooklyn, NY.
Like many kids my mom put me to learn piano at an early age. When I was 9, I remember seeing a wedding band with a drummer and I was transfixed. They let me "sit in" on the drums and from that moment all I cared about was drums and percussion.
Two seminal moments ushered me into a life of latin music, the first was in 1986 when I saw piano legend Eddie Palmieri for the first time at the Chicago Jazz Festival. The second was in 1990 when " El Rey " Tito Puente needed to "borrow" my vibes for a gig he played in Madison, WI.
Soon after completing my percussion degree at UW Madison I moved to Brooklyn to pursue the world of latin percussion and salsa.
On a tip from a stranger at Tower Records I wound up at Boys Harbor Conservatory in East Harlem. It was there that I met Tito in a composition class and we formed what became and is today Grupo Latin Vibe.
