Leon "Ndugu" Chancler

Leon "Ndugu" Chancler (/ɪnˈduːɡuː ˈtʃænslər/ in-DOO-goo CHANSS-lər; July 1, 1952 – February 3, 2018) was an American pop, funk, and jazz drummer. He was also a composer, producer, and university professor.

Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, on July 1, 1952, Leon Chancler was the youngest of seven children from the union of Rosie Lee and Henry Nathaniel Chancler. In 1960, the family relocated to Los Angeles, California. Chancler began playing drums when he was thirteen years old. He would publicly reminisce about being asked to leave a classroom for continuously tapping on the desk, only to be later heard tapping on the poles in the hallway. His love for the drums took over while attending Gompers Junior High School and it became his lifelong ambition. He graduated from Locke High School, having been involved in playing there with Willie Bobo and the Harold Johnson Sextet, and he later graduated from Cal State Dominguez Hills with a degree in music education.

By the time he finished college, Chancler had already performed with jazz artists such as the Gerald Wilson Big Band, Herbie Hancock, and recorded with Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, and Bobby Hutcherson.

He recorded frequently as a sideman in jazz, blues, and pop music, including the instantly recognizable drums on Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean". In 1982, he received a Grammy nomination for Best Rhythm & Blues song for co-writing "Let It Whip", made famous by the Dazz Band. Other musicians with whom Chancler worked during his career included George Benson, Stanley Clarke, the Crusaders, George Duke, John Lee Hooker, Hubert Laws, Thelonious Monk, Jean-Luc Ponty, Lionel Richie, Kenny Rogers, Patrice Rushen, Santana, Frank Sinatra, Donna Summer, the Temptations, Tina Turner, and Weather Report.

In 2006, he became an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies at the University of Southern California and taught at the Stanford Jazz Workshop in California for three weeks every summer. He was a member of the Percussive Arts Society and was inducted into the PAS Hall of Fame in 2020.

Chancler died at his home in Los Angeles on February 3, 2018, of prostate cancer, at the age of 65. A song, "Home Light," written by Ernie Watts and Marc Seales, was dedicated to Chancler. It was the title track of a 2018 album by the Ernie Watts Quartet.