Sbarbaro was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States,[1] to an immigrant Genoa/Genovese family.

He left music in the 1960s due to the popularity of rock and roll, and died in October 1969, in New York City, at the age of 72.

He employed wood blocks, cowbells, and Chinese tom-toms, and used a custom arrangement for his bass and snare drum.

Sbarbaro even put stuffed animals inside drums to change their sound.

"Darktown Strutters' Ball" (1917) by Original Dixieland Jass Band was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2006