Antonio Sanchez

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Antonio Sanchez
Background information
Born	November 1, 1971(1971-11-01) Mexico City
Origin	Mexico
Genres	Jazz
Occupations	Musician
Instruments	drums
Associated acts	Pat Metheny Group, John Patitucci Trio
Website	AntonioSanchez.net

Antonio Sanchez (born November 1, 1971) is a Mexican-American jazz drummer.^[1]

Biography

Antonio Sanchez was born in Mexico City and started playing drums at the age of five. By his teen years he had already begun playing professionally. He attained a degree in classical piano from the National Conservatory in 1993 and then moved to Boston, Massachusetts, to study at Berklee College of Music. After he graduated Magna Cum Laude in Jazz Studies, Sanchez obtained a scholarship for a Masters in Jazz Improvisation at Boston's New England Conservatory.

His rapid ascent in the world of jazz drumming began a few months into his time at the Conservatory when Paquito D'Rivera called Sanchez's teacher Danilo Perez for a recommendation for the drum chair in Dizzy Gillespie's United Nation Orchestra. Perez recommended Sanchez and so Sanchez found himself touring with the orchestra. Later in 1997 Perez invited Sanchez to be a part of his acoustic trio which resulted in extensive touring and the recording of the Grammy nominated album “Motherland”.^[2] The tour also resulted in his being heard by legendary guitarist Pat Metheny who invited Sanchez to join the Pat Metheny Group as its drummer after a series of auditions.^[3]

The Group recorded two albums since Sanchez's addition. The first one, "Speaking of Now" won a Grammy Award in 2003 under the "Best Contemporary Jazz Album" category. A DVD under the same name documenting the tour has also been released . The second effort, "The Way Up" was released in January 2005. Sanchez has also been a part of various quartets and trios under Metheny's direction. The Pat Metheny Trio (Metheny on guitar, Sanchez on drums, and Christian McBride on bass) released "Day Trip" in January 2008 to wide acclaim amongst jazz critics.^[4]

In 2007 he recorded his first solo effort, Migration. The album includes a stellar cast of some of today's most renowned jazz musicians: Pat Metheny, Chick Corea, Chris Potter, David Sanchez and Scott Colley. "All About Jazz" called it "One of the best debuts of 2007."^[5] Sanchez himself said of the album: “I didn’t want people to say this is a drummer’s album...I wanted it to be something that could be from any instrumentalist. I thought in terms of music, not how many solos I got and if I blew enough chops or not. I wanted the music to be very melodic and accessible and with a lot of really good interplay."^[6]

Antonio has made New York City his home since 1999 and joined the Faculty of New York University (NYU) in 2006.^[7]

Discography

Solo

with Pat Metheny

References

External links

• Antonio Sanchez Homepage