Luther Gray is one of the leading percussionists and arts educators in Louisiana.

He co-founded two major musical groups, Percussion Incorporated in 1985 and Bamboula 2000 in 1994. He has produced Hight compact discs for these two groups; “Windswept”, “Congo Square”, “Cultural Warrior”, “New Society”, “We Got It Goin’ On”, “The Wild Bamboulas”, “ Up From Congo Square” and “Cuba to Congo Square”.

He co-founded the Congo Square Foundation in 1989 that was renamed the Congo Square Preservation Society in 2011, that has been instrumental in the resurrection of drumming and cultural activities in Congo Square. In 1993, the Congo Square Foundation was successful in placing Congo Square on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1997 the Foundation led the effort to erect the Congo Square Historic Marker. In addition, he with a team of drum makers including Douglas Redd carved three Bamboula drums from a one hundred-year-old cypress tree that are now on display at the new Louisiana State Museums of History in Baton Rouge and the Cabildo in New Orleans.

The Congo Square Preservation Society has impacted over 1,000,000 people who read the Congo Square Historic Plaque, participate in the weekly Sundays in Congo Square Drum & Dance Gatherings, the Congo Square Living Classroom Fieldtrips for students and the monthly Congo Square Sacred Marketplaces.

He has been the primary drummer with the Guardians of the Flame Mardi Gras Indians since 1990. With the Guardians he has performed in Ghana, India, Singapore, Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates, France, Mexico, Martinique, Trinidad & Tobago. During the summer of 2008 he traveled with Mardi Gras Indians on a U.S. State Department tour to Guatemala and Honduras. He is also featured in the HBO’s series, Treme’ as the Drummer for the Guardians of the Flame.

Luther has worked with the Ashe’ Cultural Arts Center from 2006-2020 as Coordinator of Cultural & Community Programs that include the Annual MAAFA Commerations, Holiday on the Boulevard Celebrations, the Annual Douglas Redd Cultural Summits and the Central City Festivals.