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Wednesday
FEB 7
7:30 pm
BiRDMAN LiVE— Antonio Sanchez Film + Live Score
FEB 7 | BiRDMAN LiVE—Antonio Sanchez
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There will be no intermission for this event. For mature audiences, film rated R.
BiRDMAN LiVE – Antonio Sanchez Film + Live Score Experience the explosive Oscar-winning film accompanied live by composer Antonio Sanchez and his Grammy Award-winning, drums-only score that provides the heartbeat of the film. Sanchez’s innovative score won top honors at several award shows and contributed immensely to the film’s success at the 2015 Academy Awards ceremony, where it won four awards including Best Picture. The film, directed by Alejandro Iñárritu, stars Michael Keaton as a washed-up action star trying to reinvent his career as a credible actor and director on the Broadway stage. With a supporting cast that includes Edward Norton, Naomi Watts, Zach Galifianakis and Emma Stone, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) is a kinetic film experience that plays like a single, continuous sequence of events. Sanchez’s drums supply the energy and drive that underlines the emotional weight of the story and perfectly expresses the restless, desperate intensity of the characters. Antonio Sanchez is one of the most accomplished and in-demand drummers in jazz, performing regularly with a jaw-dropping list of greats, including Gary Burton, Chick Corea, Danilo Perez, David Sanchez, Miguel Zenon, Donny McCaslin and Michael Brecker. Since 2000, he has been the drummer of choice for 20-time, Grammy Award-winning guitar god Pat Metheny, touring the world and appearing on eight acclaimed recordings. Sanchez has also released four albums as a leader, including two remarkably diverse new releases, Three Times Three and The Meridian Suite, which display the continued evolution of his compositional and band-leading talents. Three Times Three showcases Sanchez at his improvisatory best with three different but equally iconic all-star trios, while the breathtaking The Meridian Suite features the composer’s most ambitious work to date, penned for his working ensemble, Migration. “I’m trying to expand my horizons as a composer,” Sanchez says. “These two albums are so radically different that I hope they’ll showcase two completely different sides of me.” With unprecedented attention focused on him following his lauded Birdman score, these expansive new albums serve to reinforce Antonio Sanchez’s place at the forefront of modern jazz. Breaking boundaries as a virtuoso drummer and visionary composer, it’s no wonder he was described by The New York Times as “...an important drummer in jazz since the turn of this century.”