 Antonio Sanchez Three time Grammy Award winner Antonio Sanchez, considered by many critics and musicians as one of the most prominent drummers of his generation, will lead an all-star quartet featuring David Sánchez, Miguel Zenón and Scott Colley on Monday, September 23rd, 2008 at Yoshi’s in San Francisco (1330 Fillmore). 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.
Born in Mexico City on November 1st, 1971, Antonio Sanchezstarted playing drums at the age of 5 and began performing professionally early in his teens and in 1993 he moved to Boston to enroll at Berklee College of Music and graduated Magna Cum Laude in Jazz Studies. Henow 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"
Antonio's interest in education has taken him around the globe performing clinics, drum festivals and master classes. Some of these festivals include the "Modern Drummer Festival Weekend", "Zildjian Day" and the "Montreal Drum Festival" among many others. He has also been the featured cover artist in some of the most widely read drum magazines in the industry like "Modern Drummer" (USA), "Percussioni" (Italy), "Drums and Percussion" (Germany) and "Musico Pro" (USA). Antonio joined the Faculty at the prestigious New York University (NYU) in 2006.
 Born in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, Sánchez began playing percussion and drums at age 8 before migrating to tenor saxophone four years later. While a student at the prestigious La Escuela Libre de Música in San Juan, he also took up soprano and alto saxophones as well as flute and clarinet. The bomba and plena rhythms of Puerto Rico, along with Cuban and Brazilian traditions, were among the biggest influences on Sánchez's early taste in music. Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon and John Coltrane had the greatest impact on his playing. "I'm just talking about tenor, now. Charlie Parker is a major influence, of course, and many, many others."
In 1986 Sánchez enrolled at the Universidad de Puerto Rico in Rio Píedras, but the pull of New York was irresistible. By 1988 he had auditioned for and won a music scholarship at Rutgers University in New Jersey. With such close proximity to New York City, Sánchez quickly became a member of its swirling jazz scene. He gigged with piano giant Eddie Palmieri and trumpeter Claudio Roditi who, along with master saxophonist Paquito D'Rivera, brought Sánchez to the attention of Jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie. In 1991, Gillespie invited the young saxophonist to join his “Live the Future” tour with Miriam Makeba. Sánchez’ recent recording for Columbia, Coral, earned the saxophonist his fourth Grammy nomination and won a Latin Grammy after being voted “Best Instrumental Album” of 2005 by the Latin Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Coral is the most ambitious manifestation to date of his continuing expansion of the frontiers of mainstream jazz to incorporate Afro-Latin influences. In the project, recorded in Prague, Czech Republic, and placing his jazz sextet against the backdrop of the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, he explores obscure works composed by giants of the Latin American classical genre: Antonio Carlos Jobim, Alberto Ginastera and Heitor Villa-Lobos. In addition, he juxtaposes classical structure with jazz improvisation in two of his original tunes as well as in a composition by Carlos Franzetti (arranger and conductor for all tracks on the album). Whether with Gillespie, Palmieri, Haden and his other jazz mentors, or under his own name, Sánchez has continued to tour extensively, bringing his mix of mainstream jazz with Afro-Latin influences to delighted audiences throughout the globe. In 2003 he partnered with pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba for a world tour, which took the two artists to France, Spain, Italy, Slovenia, Russia, Germany, Portugal, Holland, Denmark, South Korea, Hong Kong and Australia before Sánchez took his own band to perform at the Newport Festival at Madarao, Japan. Later that year, he led his sextet in a triumphal tour through Spain, followed by a week of performances by his quartet in Athens, Greece and Fort-de-France, Martinique. In 2004 David collaborated with Dee Dee Bridgewater on the “Latin Landscapes” world tour. And, performance highlights in 2005 included an extensive U.S. tour with Pat Metheny, as well as touring with his own jazz quartet and trio throughout the U.S., Brazil, Canada and Europe, extending up to the present.  Miguel Zenón
Perhaps one his most important collaborations began in 2004, when Zenón was asked to become one of the founding members of the SF Jazz Collective; an octet whose past and present members include: Joshua Redman, Bobby Hutcherson, Nicholas Payton, Joe Lovano, Dave Douglas and Brian Blade. The members, who participate in a residency period where they workshop and rehearse new music, divide their time (roughly two months) between composing, performing and teaching. The SF Jazz Collective has toured in the US, Canada, Asia, and Europe and to date, have released four critically acclaimed live recordings garnering them a coveted spot in the Downbeat Critic’s Poll Rising Star Small Group category in both 2006 and 2007 – an honor which, coincidentally, they shared with Zenón’s own quartet.
As a leader, Zenón has released three recordings—with a fourth, Awake, on its way in April 2008. Looking Forward, his debut CD was selected by the New York Times as the number one independent jazz record of 2002. In 2004, after being one of the first artists signed to Marsalis Music, he released the critically acclaimed Ceremonial. This same year also marked the beginning of three consecutive years on the top of the Downbeat Critic’s Poll in the Rising Star Alto Sax category; as well as three consecutive nominations by Jazz Journalist Association for Best New Jazz Artist. In 2005, Zenón was honored by Billboard magazine, as one of the “Faces to Watch-- 30 Under 30: Top Young Acts and Executives.” Zenón also released Jibaro, a tribute to the "Musica Jibara" of Puerto Rico and commissioned by a grant from the New York State Council of the Arts. Like his previous recordings, Jibaro was uniformly well received and appeared on many top ten lists including The New York Times, Latin Beat, El Nueva Dia, and the Chicago Tribune. In 2006, the readers of Jazz Times Magazine voted him the Best New Artist of the Year.
 Scott Colley
Scott Colley's remarkably empathetic skills, strong melodic penchant and improvisational daring have also served him well in groups led by colleagues Chris Potter, Greg Osby, David Binney and Adam Rogers. But it is as a composer and bandleader in his own right that Colley has flourished in recent years, as evidenced by a string of consistently impressive recordings. Recognized by Down Beat as the top “Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition” in the magazine’s 2002 critic’s poll as well as a nominee in the 2003 Jazz Journalist Association Awards, Scott Colley has been one of the most in-demand bassists on the scene, appearing on more than 80 albums to date. He has also worked with a variety of musicians from guitarists Mike Stern, Pat Metheny, John Scofield and Jim Hall to saxophonists Joe Lovano, Michael Brecker, Clifford Jordan and Greg Osby, pianists Hancock, Kenny Werner, Joachim Kuhn and Edward Simon, and drummers Bill Stewart, Brian Blade, Billy Hart and Roy Haynes.
Yoshi’s in San Francisco (1330 Fillmore). Tickets for the 8 pm show are $20 and the10 pm show is only $10. Visit www.yoshis.com for ticket information.
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Tuesday, 02 December 2008
