Josef Leimberg, a Los Angeles-based musician and producer, started playing the trumpet at 5 years old. His introduction to the trumpet led him to a deep passion for music and an obsession with Hip Hop. Josef’s obsession with hip hop was nurtured and blossomed at Hamilton High School, where he free-styled and beat-knocked on tables at lunch prior to joining Jazz band daily rehearsals. He also belonged to the Chamber Music Ensemble and found a love for keyboards while attending there.
After graduating from high school , Josef was accepted at Cal Arts in Valencia, California, where his love for music was enhanced and his love for Jazz took over. While at Cal Arts during the early ’90s, Josef joined a rap group named Mad Kap. He exposed his lyrical and trumpet skills as. “Dr. Soose.” Josef would later graduate with a Bachelors of Fine Arts from Cal Arts. After his stint with Mad Kap, Josef’s obsession with hip hop had reached an all-time high. The very next step would be producing.
Josef’s father, who also played the trumpet, saw something in his son that others saw. When Josef commenced his journey in producing, his father felt he needed a space for his creative process to flourish. Hence, Iron Worx Creative Recordings Studio was born. Josef has recorded with a vast variety of artists and musicians including ERYKAH BADU, OM’MAS KEITH, CHANCE THE RAPPER, BILAL, ZAPP MAMA, ROBERT GLASPER, THUNDERCAT, NATE DOGG, ANGIE STONE, MIGUEL, SA-RA, MALIAH FRANKILIN, MIGUEL ATWOOD FERGUSON, SUGA FREE, TERRACE MARTIN, SZA, EAST SIDERZ, FRANK OCEAN , GEORGE CLINTON, LYNN COLLINS, MADLIB, IMAN OMARI, JIMETTA ROSE, SHAFIQ HUSAIN and XZIBIT.
While his studio business was growing, his production business took off as well. At this point, Josef was introduced to Snoop Dogg; he would later produce numerous tracks on Snoop’s platinum albums Rhythm and Gangsta and Paid Tha Cost to Be The Boss. While achieving platinum status with his production, he also toured the country with Snoop as a part of Snoop’s legendary band. After completing numerous tours with Snoop, Josef would then pick up again and start touring with critically acclaimed artist Robin Thicke, becoming a dominant force in the horn section. He continued to create and produce while touring.
After touring for over 10 years consecutively, Josef began to totally commit to his production and making genuine soul enhancing, real music. Tragedy struck in 2012 when Josef’s beloved mother passed. She was a major influence in his life and always told him: “You know, you play like that for a reason, you know?” Josef’s mother pushed him to make what she called a “blue’s album.” The album was born…The blues album his Mom encouraged him to make became his first solo project. Putting his heart and soul and a lot of instruments together, he titled it Astral Progressions.
While creating Astral Progressions, an old friend and fellow talented musician, Terrace Martin, reached out to Josef in regards to collaborating on Grammy award-winning Kendrick Lamar’s upcoming project. Josef and Terrace have been friends since the ’90s and both toured with Snoop throughout the years. They both decided to create an alias, LoveDragon, which produced President Barack Obama’s favorite song of 2015, ‘How Much A Dollar Cost.’ The two also committed work to ‘You Aint’ Gotta Lie’ on the Grammy award-winning album, To Pimp A Butterfly.
Josef’s baritone vocals can also be found on ‘Wesley’s Theory’ and ‘For Sale?’, both on Kendrick’s acclaimed album. His multiple trumpet contributions are also sprinkled throughout the entire album. He looks forward to his solo album being released through the Alpha Pup Records jazz imprint World Galaxy. Astral Progressions is a superb blend of jazz, ballads, hip hop, funk, meditation, and of course, progressions.
This is a standing show.
