Antonio Sánchez, a jazz drummer and four-time GRAMMY winner, composed the beautiful, nuanced score for Birdman, which was released with critical acclaim, quickly making Sánchez one of the most sought-after jazz drummers in the world. Opener Takuya Kuroda bends the rules of genre, fusing jazz, funk, and hip-hop to create unique sounds on the trumpet. Presentation of Birdman licensed by Disney Concerts © All rights reserved.

Born in Mexico City, 4-time Grammy Award winner Antonio Sánchez began playing the drums at age five and performed professionally in his early teens in Mexico’s rock, jazz, and latin scenes. Since moving to New York City in 1999, Sánchez has become one of the most sought-after drummers on the international jazz scene. Following 18 years and 9 albums as one of the most revered collaborators with guitarist/composer Pat Metheny, he also has recorded and performed with many other most prominent artists like Chick Corea, Gary Burton, Michael Brecker, Charlie Haden, and Toots Thielmans. In 2014 Sánchez’s popularity soared when he scored Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) which ended up fetching 4 Academy awards (including best picture) and for which Sánchez won Grammy award. Additional film/tv projects include EPIX network’s Get Shorty and Hippopotamus among others. With more than a dozen recordings as a leader or co-leader, Sánchez’s recent projects include the acclaimed epic The Meridian Suite and the star studded Three Times Three. He turned his upset over social injustice into a tribute to every immigrant’s journey in his epic musical statement Lines in the Sand.

A highly-respected trumpeter born in Kobe, Japan, Takuya Kuroda is a forward-thinking musician that has developed a unique hybrid sound, blending soulful jazz, funk, post-bop, fusion, and hip hop music. Kuroda is already incredibly prolific, releasing five albums in the past decade and fortifying a solid reputation in the global jazz scene. 2011 saw the release of Takuya’s independently-produced debut album, Edge, followed by Bitter and High the following year and Six Aces on P-Vine in 2013. Takuya was signed to the legendary Blue Note Records in 2014 for his album Rising Son, as well as appearing on their 2019 cover versions project, Blue Note Voyage. He released his 5th album Zigzagger on Concord in 2016, which also featured Antibalas on a reimagining of the Donald Byrd classic “Think Twice.” Late Summer 2020, Takuya Kuroda returns with his sixth album Fly Moon Die Soon. In his words, “this album is about the irony between the greatness of nature and the beautiful obsceneness of humanity. Melodies and grooves fly back and forth from being spiritual to being vulgar.”