Leo Pellegrino, popularly known as Leo P, is an American saxophone player from Pittsburgh, PA. His chops on the baritone sax and unique dance moves alongside his ever-changing hair color and matching outfits have taken him from the subways of New York City to featured status at Royal Albert Hall and international prominence.
Leo moved to New York in 2010 to attend the Manhattan School of Music. His unique performance style created friction with his professors. Some loved him and believed in his alternative style, while others claimed he would never be able to get a good sound while moving around. Nevertheless, his fashion and personality led to his appearance on the cover of the yearly calendar that everyone in the school received during his senior year. Leo dropped out of the graduate program in 2015.
He began playing in the New York City subways in 2014 while he was still in school and switched to full- time performance after dropping out of school. This was not a popular decision among his teachers, colleagues and parents. However, his subway performances led to viral videos with two different groups: Lucky Chops (LC) and Too Many Zooz (TMZ). Eventually, Leo left LC to focus on TMZ, and since that time, the band has recorded and played live with Beyoncé and recorded with Diplo. Their song "Warriors" has been featured in an international commercial for the Google Pixel 2 (alongside a visual from a TMZ performance) and named "Song of the Week" by the BBC.
In 2017, Leo was chosen to perform as a featured artist at the BBC Proms' tribute to Charles Mingus at Royal Albert Hall. According to SeenandheardInternational.com, "possibly the true highlight of the evening was the outstanding solos of fuchsia-haired New York-based saxophonist Leo Pellegrino, choreographed to a tee in zebra-striped shoes, in 'Moanin'." His sheer physical agility while playing his instrument virtuosically was simply unlike anything I have experienced before. Unsurprisingly, he brought the house down."
