Antonio Sanchez

“There’s no other brand I would rather be playing. Yamaha Drums are the only drums I can rely on 100% for any musical situation. Besides great quality and sound, Yamaha Drums and hardware are the most user friendly. Yamaha Drums is like a big extended family that makes you feel right at home.” — Antonio Sanchez

Three time Grammy Award winner Antonio Sanchez is considered by many critics and musicians alike as one of the most prominent drummers of his generation.
Born in Mexico City on November 1st, 1971, he started playing drums at the age of 5 and began performing professionally early in his teens.
He pursued a degree in classical piano at the National Conservatory in Mexico and in 1993 he moved to Boston to enroll at Berklee College of Music and graduated Magna Cum Laude in Jazz Studies.
Since his move to New York City Antonio has become one of the most sought after drummers in the international jazz scene. He has performed and recorded with some of the biggest names in jazz including Pat Metheny (He's a member of the Pat Metheny Group and the Pat Metheny Trio with Christian McBride), Chick Corea, Michael Brecker, Charlie Haden, Gary Burton and Toots Thielmans.
He regularly collaborates with some of the most prominent names of the newer generation of Jazz: Joshua Redman, Chris Potter, John Patitucci, Danilo Perez, David Sanchez, Paquito D'Rivera, Kenny Werner, Marcus Roberts, Avishai Cohen, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Dianne Reeves, Miguel Zenon, Scott Colley, Dave Samuels, Luciana Souza, Billy Childs, and Claudia Acuña just to name a few.
In 2007 he recorded his first solo effort entitled "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. It has gotten rave reviews from different publications all over the world. "All About Jazz" calls it "One of the best debuts of 2007"
“I didn’t want people to say this is a drummer’s album,” Sanchez explains. “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. The new tunes that Chick and Pat wrote made it come together nicely; they’re not my tunes but conceptually they’re in the same realm.”

Sanchez might not want to admit it, but Migration is a tour de force of drum performances, showcasing his astounding attention to fine detail, cross rhythmic expression, and dazzling independence. From foot pedal–executed clave patterns to blazingly fast and intricate drumset figures, Sanchez stuns.

“My sound is starting to be more recognizable now,” he says, with typical modesty. “Before I was doing a lot of things and trying to consolidate what I thought my sound could be. With this album especially, that comes across really well.”

Sanchez recorded Migration in January 2007, playing a smaller Yamaha maple Absolute Nouveau kit than he does with The Pat Metheny Group (5x14 snare, 8x12 tom, 14x14 floor, 14x18 bass drum, with a 22" Zildjian K Constantinople medium-thin high ride, a 22" K Constantinople medium-thin low ride, a 22" A Zildjian prototype flat ride, an 18" prototype crash, and 13" 1950s K Zildjian hats).

Antonio has more recordings in the can, including releases from The Pat Metheny Trio (February ’08), The Chick Corea Trio (Japanese import), and The Gary Burton Revisited Quartet (spring ’08). An instructional DVD is also in the works, from Hudson Video.