Antonio Sánchez

Since arriving in New York City in 1999, multi-Grammy winning drummer, composer, and bandleader Antonio Sanchéz has made himself an indispensable part of the international jazz discussion. Though he has appeared on hundreds of recordings from a wide range of musicians, Sanchéz is best known for his nine albums with guitarist Pat Metheny. Further, he has worked as a composer in film and television. He wrote the Grammy-winning original score for the 2014 Oscar-awarded film Birdman, and has also scored the Epix TV series Get Shorty. He has issued a dozen widely acclaimed albums under his own name including 2007′s Migration, 2014′s Three Times Three, 2017′s Grammy-winning sociopolitical electronica & drums exploration Bad Hombre, 2018′s Channels of Energy with the WDR Big Band, and 2022′s Shift (Bad Hombre, Vol. 2).
Sanchéz was born in Mexico City on November 1, 1971. He began playing drums playing drums at age five and performing professionally early in his teens. He pursued a degree in classical piano at the National Conservatory in Mexico and in 1993 moved to Boston, enrolling at the Berklee College of Music, graduating magna cum laude in jazz studies. He moved to New York City in 1999 and became one of the most sought-after drummers on the international jazz scene. He has performed and recorded with some of the biggest names in jazz, most prominently in the Pat Metheny Trio alongside Christian McBride; the guitarist’s larger group; and the reunion band with Metheny, Steve Swallow, and Gary Burton. Other leaders he has worked with include Chick Corea, Michael Brecker, Charlie Haden, Toots Thielemans, and Joshua Redman.
His interest in education led Sanchéz to join the faculty at New York University in 2006. In addition to performing and teaching, he has conducted clinics and master classes, and played at drum festivals worldwide, including the Modern Drummer Festival Weekend, Zildjian Day, and Montreal Drum Festival. Sanchéz has been a featured cover artist on magazines like Modern Drummer, Musico Pro, Percussioni, and Drums & Percussion.
As a solo artist, he debuted in 2007 with Migration and followed up with Element a year later, with the concert album Live in New York at Jazz Standard appearing in 2010. In 2013 Sanchéz released his third studio album, New Life, featuring saxophonists David Binney and Donny McCaslin, and that year he also recorded with pianist Abraham Barrera and bassist Aarón Cruz for Ocaso.
Sanchéz garnered wide acclaim for his innovative soundtrack to director Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Academy Award-winning film Birdman in 2014. Although nominated for both Golden Globe and BAFTA awards, Sanchéz was controversially disqualified for an Academy Award for Best Original Score nomination due to the film using a large amount of existing classical music. Nonetheless, he took home the Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Score and Satellite Award for Best Original Score.
A year later, he returned with The Meridian Suite. He then joined guitarist Metheny for nine albums over 18 years before returning to solo work with his sixth album, 2017′s Grammy-nominated Bad Hombre. Inspired by the anti-immigration policies espoused by nationalist president Donald Trump, it was performed completely solo as a sociopolitical exercise in electronic music & drum exploration.
Sanchéz issued three albums in 2018. Channels of Energy was recorded in collaboration with the WDR Big Band, featuring arrangements of the drummer’s music by Vince Mendoza. The soundtrack of his score for Get Shorty was also issued. In addition, he released Lines in the Sand with his Migration ensemble, featuring pianist John Escreet, bassist Matt Brewer, and vocalist Thana Alexa, among others. The latter album reached the Top 20 on the Jazz Albums charts. The following year, he joined saxophonist/pianist Will Vinson and guitarist Gilad Hekselman on the eponymous debut by their Trio Grande; it was released by Whirlwind in 2021 and followed by a tour.
In August 2022, Sanchéz released Shift (Bad Hombre, Vol. 2). Unlike the initial volume, the drummer/composer enlisted a diverse, international cast of collaborators and recorded them remotely during the pandemic. His guest list included Dave Matthews and Pat Metheny (“Eh Hee 2.0), Chilean-French rapper Ana Tijoux (the single “Mi Palabra”), Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (“I Think We’re Past That Now”), Lila Downs (“Risa de Mujer”), Meshell Ndegeocello (“Comet, Come to Me”), Rodrigo y Gabriela (“M-Power), and many others. ~ Michael G. Nastos & Thom Jurek