Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, Wayne Maureau was exposed to the vast musical diversity of the city at a very young age. At 5 years old he had his first drum lesson, but it was in high school that his talent began to emerge. During his junior and senior years he led the marching drum line and consistently won LMEA (Louisiana Music Educators Association) and All-State competitions. In 1987 Wayne left New Orleans to attend Louisiana State University on a full music scholarship. While there he performed with the LSU Jazz Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, Jazz Quintet, Symphonic Band, and Marching Band as well as in the local club scene. In 1991 he entered the Percussive Arts Society International Drumset Solo contest and was the State winner in Louisiana. After earning a Bachelors Degree, he continued his education at Drummers Collective in New York City, studying with Ricky Sebastian, Pete Zeldman, Kim Plainfield, and Rich Thompson. Returning to New Orleans in 1992, Wayne quickly became one of the most “in demand” drummers in town, covering a wide variety of gigs from Jazz and Blues, to Latin, R&B, and Funk.
Throughout his career, Wayne has performed in many cities around the United States and overseas. He plays the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, and the New Orleans French Quarter Festival annually, as well as appearing at festivals around the world. Among the numerous local, national and international artists with whom he has shared the stage are: Lee Thornberg (Tower of Power), Byron Strippling (Count Basie, GRP Big Band, Carnegie Hall Big Band), Bobby Shew (Woody Herman), Bill Summers (Herbie Hancock, The Headhunters), Philip Manuel (Maxjazz recording artist), Irvin Mayfeild (New Orleans Jazz Orchestra), Sachal Vasandani, Maria Marquez, Peter Sprague, Keely Smith, Los Hombres Caliente, Allen Tousaint, Luther Kent, Marcia Ball, Maria Muldaur, Decon John and many others.
Wayne serves as adjunct faculty percussion instructor at Loyola University and Delgado Community College. In addition to teaching private lessons he coaches jazz combo and performs in the Loyola Faculty Jazz Septet. He has also provided private instruction to students from NOCCA (New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts) and is often called upon to substitute teach music theory and guest lecture in music appreciation classes. In recent years he has conducted drum clinics at universities and high schools around the Southeastern United States and in spring 2005 released The Multi-Stylist Drummer, a method book based on his approach to the drumset. On several occasions Wayne has been guest performer with the Baton Rouge Symphony and as a member of the house trio for the International Trumpet Guild convention in 1991 and the International Clarinet Convention in 2001, he performed with featured musicians from around the world.
Wayne proudly endorses Fortune Drums, Bosphorus Cymbals and Aquarian Drumheads.
Currently, Wayne performs with legendary R&B, Blues and Funk band Walter "Wolfman" Washington & the Roadmasters. They perform weekly in the crescent city and are frequently on tour in the states and abroad. In 2013 they received the Big Easy award for best R&B band in New Orleans. Wayne maintains a busy freelance schedule often performing with The Lena Prima Band, The Colin Lake Band, The Jimmy Carpenter Band, Chris Mule' and the Perpetrators, Gringo do Choro, Vivaz Latin band, Amanda Shaw and many other top artists in the city.
In recent years Wayne has become known for his expertise in Brazilian music and is the first call drummer for artists from Brazil visiting New Orleans. To date he has performed with Jovino Santos Neto, David Ganc, Marcos Nimrichter, Carlos Malta, and a joint performance with Brazilian drummer Marcio Bahia.
Wayne founded TriFunctA in 2006, an instrumental funk project based on the organ trio concept. TriFunctA’s first release, Hangin’ features guest artists George Porter Jr. of the Funky Meters, Mark Mullins of Bonerama and Steve Masakowski of Astral Project. The CD features some of Wayne's original compositions. In addition to live performances, Wayne is frequently in the studio and has been featured on many recordings. In May, 2002 Wayne released Sidewalk Safari, his self produced CD of original compositions and Latin arrangements of jazz standards. He has also performed on movie soundtracks and jingles for radio and television and appeared in the motion picture Ray.