Antonio Sánchez (born November 1, 1971) is a Mexican drummer and composer. He is best known for his work with jazz guitarist

Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He was the leader of the Pat Metheny Group (1977–2010) and continues to work in various small-combo, duet, and solo settings, as well as other side pr ...

and as a composer of the

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

for the 2014 film '' Birdman''. The score earned him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score and BAFTA Award for Best Film Music; he won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media, the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Score, and the Satellite Award for Best Original Score.

Early life and education

Sánchez was born in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, 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 Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, to study at

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

. After he graduated magna cum laude in jazz studies, Sánchez obtained a scholarship for a master's degree in jazz improvisation at Boston's

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. The conservatory is located on Huntington Avenue along Avenue of the Arts (Boston), the Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Ha ...

. He is the grandson of Mexican actor Ignacio López Tarso.

Career

While Sánchez was still at the Conservatory in 1997, his teacher, Danilo Pérez, recommended him to Paquito D'Rivera for the drum chair in

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

's United Nations Orchestra, which led to him touring with the orchestra. Later in 1997, Perez invited Sánchez to be a part of his acoustic trio which resulted in extensive touring, and the recording of the

-nominated album ''Motherland''. The tour resulted in him being heard by guitarist

who invited Sánchez to join the

Pat Metheny Group The Pat Metheny Group was an American jazz band founded in 1977 by guitarist and composer Pat Metheny, along with his core collaborating member, keyboardist and composer Lyle Mays. Other long-standing members included bassist and producer Steve ...

as its drummer after a series of auditions. The group recorded two albums with Sánchez. The first one, '' Speaking of Now'', won a

for Best Contemporary Jazz Album in 2003. A

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

, under the same name, documenting the tour has been released. The second album, '' The Way Up'', was released in January 2005. Sánchez has been a part of various

quartet In music, a quartet (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations of four instruments in chamber music is the string quartet. String quar ...

s and trios under Metheny's direction. The Pat Metheny Trio (Metheny on

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

, Sánchez on

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...

s, and Christian McBride on

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

) released '' Day Trip'' in January 2008 to wide acclaim among jazz critics. In 2012, he was the drummer on Pat Metheny's album '' Unity Band''. In 2006, Sánchez joined the faculty of

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

(NYU). The next year, he recorded his first

solo album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century ...

, ''

Migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

'', on CAM Jazz. The album includes

Chick Corea Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain (instrumental), Spain", "500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba" ...

, Chris Potter, David Sánchez, and Scott Colley. ''All About Jazz'' called it "One of the best debuts of 2007." Sánchez 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." In 2010, Sánchez released his second solo album, '' Live in New York at Jazz Standard'', to positive reviews. The double live album was recorded at the Jazz Standard in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

after a U.S. tour of Antonio's band, which included Miguel Zenón on

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgians, Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E♭ ( ...

, David Sánchez on

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

, and Scott Colley on

acoustic bass guitar The acoustic bass guitar (sometimes shortened to acoustic bass or initialized ABG) is a bass instrument with a hollow wooden body similar to, though usually larger than, a steel-string acoustic guitar. Like the traditional electric bass guitar ...

. The year 2013 marked the release of his third solo album. '' New Life'' was recorded in January 2012. It includes 8 original compositions and features Thana Alexa on vocals,

David Binney David Binney (born August 2, 1961) is an American alto saxophonist and composer. Early life Binney was born in Miami, Florida, and was raised in Carpinteria, California. From his parents, who loved music, he was exposed to albums by John Colt ...

on alto saxophone, Donny McCaslin on tenor saxophone, John Escreet on piano and Matt Brewer on bass. All his solo albums have been released under the Cam Jazz label. In 2014, Sánchez composed the

for '' Birdman''. The

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ( ...

was released on October 14, 2014. The score earned him nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, BAFTA Award for Best Film Music, and other nominations; he won the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Score and Satellite Award for Best Original Score. However, he was disqualified to compete for the

Academy Award for Best Original Score The Academy Award for Best Original Score is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by ...

, since the film also contained a significant amount of

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

. Sánchez's 2017 album, ''Bad Hombre,'' earned him a Grammy Nomination for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album. Sánchez continued working with the Pat Metheny band in 2019 as they toured extensively and released an album of new material in 2020 entitled ''

From This Place ''From This Place'' is a studio album by American jazz guitarist Pat Metheny, released in February 2020 on the Nonesuch label. Track listing All tracks are written by Pat Metheny. Personnel The individuals involved in the making of the a ...

''. Sánchez's 2022 album, ''SHIFT (Bad Hombre Vol. II),'' sees Sánchez joining forces with a diverse range of collaborators, including Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, Dave Matthews & Pat Metheny, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Meshell Ndegeocello, Kimbra, Lila Downs, Ana Tijoux, Becca Stevens, Silvana Estrada, MARO and Thana Alexa.

Equipment

Sánchez plays Yamaha drums, Remo drumheads, and Zildjian

cymbal A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sou ...

s and sticks, as well as LP Percussion exclusively.

Discography

As leader

* ''

'' ( CAM Jazz, 2007) * '' Live in New York at Jazz Standard'' (CAM Jazz, 2010) * '' New Life'' (CAM Jazz, 2013) * '' Birdman'' (Milan, 2014) * '' Three Times Three'' (CAM Jazz, 2015) * '' The Meridian Suite'' (CAM Jazz, 2015) * '' Bad Hombre'' (CAM Jazz, 2017) * '' Lines in the Sand'' (CAM Jazz, 2019) * '' SHIFT (Bad Hombre Vol. II)'' (Warner Music, 2022)

As sideman

With

Michael Brecker Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as a performer and composer, received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music in ...

* '' Wide Angles'' ( Verve, 2003) With Dewa Budjana * ''Hasta Karma'' ( Moonjune, 2015) With

Gary Burton Gary Burton (born January 23, 1943) is an American jazz Vibraphone, vibraphonist, composer, and educator. Burton developed a pianistic style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the prevailing two-mallet technique. This approach caused ...

* '' Quartet Live'' (

Concord Jazz Concord Jazz is a record company and label founded in 1973 by Carl Jefferson, the former owner of Jefferson Motors Lincoln Mercury dealership in Concord, California. The label was named after the city in the East San Francisco Bay area, and the ...

, 2009) * '' Common Ground'' ( Mack Avenue, 2011) * '' Guided Tour'' (Mack Avenue, 2013) With Avishai Cohen * ''Unity'' ( Stretch, 2001) With Scott Colley *'' Architect of the Silent Moment'' (CAM Jazz, 2005

007 The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

With

* ''Dr. Joe'' (Stretch, 2008) With Bendik Hofseth * ''XI'' (Grappa, 2009) With

* '' Speaking of Now'' ( Nonesuch, 2002) * '' The Way Up'' (Nonesuch, 2005) * '' Day Trip'' (Nonesuch, 2008) * '' Tokyo Day Trip'' (Nonesuch, 2008) * '' Unity Band'' (Nonesuch, 2012) * '' Tap: Book of Angels Volume 20'' (

Tzadik Tzadik ( ''ṣaddīq'' , "righteous ne; also ''zadik'' or ''sadiq''; pl. ''tzadikim'' ''ṣadīqīm'') is a title in Judaism given to people considered righteous, such as biblical figures and later spiritual masters. The root of the word ...

/Nonesuch, 2013) * '' Kin (<-->)'' (Nonesuch, 2014) * ''

The Unity Sessions ''The Unity Sessions'' is an album by American jazz guitarist Pat Metheny and his Unity Band: saxophonist Chris Potter (jazz saxophonist), Chris Potter, bassist Ben Williams (musician), Ben Williams, keyboardist Giulio Carmassi and drummer Anton ...

'' (Nonesuch, 2016) * ''

'' (Nonesuch, 2020) With Enrico Pieranunzi * ''Latin Jazz Quintet Live at Birdland'' (Cam Jazz, 2010) * ''Permutation'' (Cam Jazz, 2012) * ''Stories'' (Cam Jazz, 2014) With Béla Fleck and Edmar Castañeda * ''BEATrio'' ( Thirty Tigers, 2025)

References

External links

Official site
*
Antonio Sanchez Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (2008)