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"

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).

In addition, Antonio joined the faculty at the prestigious New York University (NYU) in 2006.

Scott Colley, bass
Recognized by Down Beat Magazine as the top “Rising Star” bassist for 2002-2004, Colley has been one of the most in-demand bassists on the scene, appearing on more than 100 albums to date. He has worked with a variety of musicians from guitarists, Pat Metheny, Adam Rogers, John Scofield and Jim Hall to saxophonists Joe Lovano, Michael Brecker, Clifford Jordan and Osby, pianists Hancock, Kenny Werner, Joachim Kuhn and Edward Simon, and drummers Bill Stewart, Brian Blade, Billy Hart and Roy Haynes, supplying the rich tones and driving momentum behind their music. Born on November 24, 1963 in Los Angeles he began studying bass at age 11 and attended Eagle Rock High School, where he studied under John Rinaldo. During that time, Scott played concerts around L.A. with the pianist-composer Jimmy Rowles. After graduating high school he was granted a full scholarship to the California Institute for the Arts, where he focused on composition and jazz studies while also studying privately with Charlie Haden and classical bassist Fred Tinsley, of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

In 1986, he began touring and recording with jazz vocal legend Carmen McRae. He graduated Cal Arts with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1988 and soon after moved to New York City. While continuing to work with Ms. McRae through 1990, he also made U.S. and European tours with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Clifford Jordan, and Art Farmer. From 1991 to 1995, he performed and recorded with many bands including Jim Hall, John Scofield, James Newton, Joe Henderson, Billy Hart, Mike Stern, and Phil Woods. From 1996 to 1998, his work included touring with a group led by Joe Lovano and Jim Hall, tours with Toots Thielemans; Bobby Hutcherson; Billy Hart and Kenny Werner; trio concerts with Ravi Coltrane and Al Foster; The Chris Potter Quartet; and Bob Berg; extensive touring with Andrew Hill's "Another Point of Departure" sextet and work with Lan Xang. For 5 years beginning in 2000, Colley toured extensively as a member of Herbie Hancock’s working trio (with drummer Teri Lynne Carrington) and two separate quartets (one featuring saxophonist Gary Thomas, the other featuring vibist Bobby Hutcherson) at concerts around the world. Hancock’s trio has also performed in concert engagements with symphonic orchestras throughout the United States. Colley’s work in 2005-2007 included extensive touring with “Directions in Music”, a collaboration with Michael Brecker, Herbie Hancock, Roy Hargrove and Terri Lyne Carrington; trio concerts with Pat Metheny; tours with Jim Hall; Concerts with Toots Thielemans; teaching residencies at The Banff Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Vallekilde Denmark. European and U.S. tours with Chris Potter’s Quartet; trio concerts with Chris Potter and Antonio Sanchez, U.S. and European tours with his own trio (with Mark Turner and Antonio Sanchez), as well as tours with his own quartet.

In 2008 he is touring with Edward Simon and Brian Blade; Chris Potter’s Underground; The Antonio Sanchez Quartet; Magic Circle (a trio with Dave Douglas and Mark Feldman); The David Binney Quartet (with Craig Taborn and Brian Blade); The Kenny Werner Quintet, teaching residencies in the U.S. and Italy. Numerous recordings including work on a solo recording for ArtistShare.

David Sánchez, saxophone
Latin Grammy Award winner David Sánchez is being hailed as “the most profound young tenor saxophonist working today.” The world-renowned jazz critic Howard Reich saluted the young bandleader saying, “Technically, tonally and creatively, he seems to have it all.  His sound is never less than plush, his pitch is unerring, his rapid-fire playing is ravishing in its combination of speed, accuracy and utter evenness of tone.”  Such is the acclaim and respect that Sánchez has engendered from critics, music lovers and fellow artists throughout the world as he continues to push the frontiers of mainstream jazz to incorporate a compelling and rich array of Latin and Afro-Caribbean influences, while remaining true to the tenets of the jazz genre.

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.

The Departure, his 1995 debut for Columbia, gained critical kudos as did the disc's successors Sketches of Dreams, and Street Scenes. Meanwhile, David had begun touring with various jazz greats such as Kenny Barron, Roy Haynes and legendary drummer Elvin Jones, recording with Barron and Haynes respectively. When he returned to the studio for his next project, the results were sterling.

roduced by Branford Marsalis, Obsesión would garner the saxophonist his first Grammy nomination. He would follow that album with the Grammy-nominated (and Latin Grammy-nominated) Melaza.  In 2001, Sánchez appeared on high-profile recordings with bassist Charlie Haden and trombonist Steve Turre before issuing another Grammy-nominated release on Columbia, Travesía.

ánchez’ Columbia recording, 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.

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. 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. He also was named a 2005 grant recipient of Chamber Music America’s “New Works: Creation and Presentation Program.”
In 2004, that fervent desire to “keep doing what I’m doing” found Sánchez concluding an 11-year, seven-album relationship with Sony Music. Three years of intense writing, performing and shopping around for a new musical home followed, with Sánchez ultimately opting to sign with Concord, where his latest--and arguably most artistically progressive album--Cultural Survival, was released on May 20, 2008.

David has also proven to be a compelling presence with student musicians and continues to be in demand for workshops and master classes throughout the world.  In recent years, his academic pursuits have included visiting professorships at the Peabody Conservatory, the Conservatory of Puerto Rico and at Indiana University’s School of Music.  He has also been a featured artist for Marsalis Jams, a program of the non-profit Music Education Initiative, which takes working jazz ensembles to colleges and universities in the United States for mini-residencies to enhance capability and lend insights to student musicians and to build jazz audiences in general.  During the 2005-2006 academic year, David was Artist-in-Residence at the School of Music at Georgia State University.

Miguel Zenón, saxophone
A native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Miguel Zenón studied saxophone at the famed Escuela Libre de Musica; an institution that boasts distinguished alumnus throughout the musical world. Although Zenón was exposed to jazz while in high school, it wasn’t until he began his studies at the Berklee School of Music that his formal jazz training began.

Zenón excelled at Berklee and received numerous awards and honors. It was also during this time period that he became active in the Boston area jazz scene and gained professional experience with the drummer Bob Moses’ Mozamba and the Either/Orchestra. After graduating from Berklee, Zenón received a scholarship to attend Manhattan School of Music and in 2001, he received a Masters in Saxophone Performance. The distinguished list of educators he has studied with include: Angel Marrero, Leslie Lopez, Rafael Martinez, Danilo Perez, Dick Oatts, Dave Liebman, George Garzone and Bill Pierce.

In his relatively short, but rather illustrious career, Zenón has performed and/or recorded with a quite a diverse array of artists including: David Sanchez, Danilo Perez, Charlie Haden, The Village Vanguard Orchestra, Bobby Hutcherson, Jason Lindner, Guillermo Klein y Los Guachos, The Mingus Big Band, Brian Lynch, Jerry Gonzalez & The Fort Apache Band, Ray Barretto, Steve Coleman and Branford Marsalis, among others.

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 four recordings. 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. Zenón topped that category as well in 2008, making that the fourth time in the last five years. In 2005, Zenón was honored by Billboard magazine, as one of the “Faces to Watch-- 30 Under 30: Top Young Acts and Executives”. That year 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. Awake, his fourth recording as a leader (and third for Marsalis Music) was released in April 2008.

In addition to touring extensively throughout the US and Europe with his quartet, Zenón has made teaching a priority in his professional career. In 2003, as part of the Kennedy Center’s Jazz Ambassador’s Program, Zenón’s quartet was selected to teach and perform throughout West Africa. Since then he as done master classes, clinics and/or residencies in such diverse institutions as the Banff Centre, University of Manitoba, LeMoyne College, UMASS-Amherst, the Brubeck Institute, Berklee School of Music, Conservatoire de Paris, Rotterdam Conservatory, Manhattan School of Music and the Diaz Institute. Zenón also serves as a private saxophone instructor at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York. In April 2008 Zenón received a fellowship from the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Foundation to work on his next project, which will focus on Plena Music from Puerto Rico.

2005

	Saturday Night - September 20, 2008 / 9:45pm
	Dizzy's Den