Lines In The Sand: Antonio Sanchez In Conversation with CJ Shearn
Antonio Sanchez has been one of the leading lights of the drum scene for 20 years, having made his debut with Danilo Perez and in 2001 joining current employer, Pat Metheny. Sanchez has made his mark as a composer having won a Golden Globe for the score to the Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu directed, Oscar winning Birdman, scoring the TV series Get Shorty, and as a sonic explorer recording Bad Hombre. On January 26th, Sanchez releases Lines In The Sand on CamJazz featuring a revamped Migration with Thana Alexa on voice and effects, Chase Baird (replacing Seamus Blake) on tenor and EWI, keyboardist John Escreet and bassist Matt Brewer. The album is a powerful lament on being an immigrant, in which Sanchez brings his instrumental, composition and production skills to a unified whole in a brilliant album length display. We discuss the album, it’s production, compositions and future direction of his music. My thanks to Antonio Sanchez for scheduling time in the midst of a busy schedule and Gille Amaral at Dog And Pony Industries for coordinating it. Additional thanks to Jason Isaac for assistance in post production. Remember that this podcast is just part of what the New York Jazz Workshop does to create jazz education opportunities in the metro New York area. Part 2 of the podcast below
Recorded by CJ Shearn at Jazz Views with CJ Shearn Studios, New York, on December 11, 2018
Mixed and edited by Jason Isaac at WNYC Studios, New York, January 2019
Produced by CJ Shearn
I have been the staff writer for the New York Jazz Workshop School of Music blog in midtown Manhattan since 2014, and that has broadened my freelance writing skills considerably. In addition to writing artist bios, and articles of interest that pertain to the mission of the school, I have interviewed (in print on the site) legendary guitarist and NEA Jazz Master Pat Metheny, trumpeter Cuong Vu, and in 2015 embarked on producing a podcast for the school where I have achieved my dream and interviewed jazz giants such as Dave Liebman, Lenny White, rising talents like Thana Alexa, Logan Richardson, guitarist and bassist Brian Kastan, among others. I also work on SEO optimization for the blog. In 2015 I started my blog Jazz Views with CJ Shearn, and have written liner notes for 5 time Grammy winner and Oscar and Golden Globe nominee, Antonio Sanchez (for his latest recording “Channels of Energy”) and guitarist Gene Ess for his latest recording, scheduled to be released in November 2018.
My passion for jazz music is what drives me, which is an interest I’ve had since I can remember. I initially began writing about jazz at the age of 13 for my high school newspaper, and in my late teens contributed occasionally to jazzreview.com. In college I was member of the Harpur Jazz Project which brought jazz acts to campus. I’ve also contributed in the past to AllAboutJazz where I was mentored by John Kelman. I decided to focus on my passion for jazz music journalism after a job in the social services field as a caseworker went south, and as a person with a physical disability I work on going against the odds, living independently and having accomplished things people had said I’d never do.