It's not unusual for famous rock drummers to cite great jazz drummers as their biggest musical inspirations. But jazz drum great Antonio Sanchez reverses that equation by citing a pair of top rock drummers, Neil Peart of Rush and Stewart Copeland of The Police, as two of his biggest inspirations.

"It all started because my mother is a big, big music fan and she used to listen to the Stones, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, The Who and Cream," Sanchez said.

"So I grew up listening to all these bands, and the natural thing was to want to play rock. Then I discovered Rush and The Police, and the drummers in those two bands were a huge inspiration. Then I moved to jazz and Latin jazz."

Today, it is Sanchez who is often cited as an inspiration for his remarkable skill, sensitivity and ability to play with great intensity at even the softest volume levels.

He is also held in high regard by non-drummers like guitarist Pat Metheny, whose trio and sextet both feature Sanchez. In 2002, Metheny composed "The Gathering Sky" specifically to take advantage of Sanchez's jaw-dropping ability to perform clave — the syncopated alternating patterns of three and two beats used in much Latin music — with a cowbell that he plays with his left foot.

"I never thought a drummer like Antonio would be born," Metheny said in a 2002 interview. "He's a dream, not only for his drumming, but for his musical intelligence (and) his maturity."

Sanchez's maturity is even more evident on "Migration," his 2007 solo debut album for CamJazz Records. Metheny and Chick Corea, who guest, each contributed a new song to the album. It also features four original compositions by Sanchez and vital interpretations of classics by Miles Davis ("Solar") and Joe Henderson ("Inner Urge").

Two of the musicians featured on the album, saxophonist David Sanchez (no relation) and bassist Scott Colley, are now on tour with this 36-year-old drum dynamo. Saxophonist Miguel Zenon completes the band. Zenon was recently awarded $500,000 when he was named one of this year's recipients of the prestigious MacArthur Fellowships, which is more commonly known as the "genius grant."

"I love to do both, but it's a completely different thing when you're playing other people's music and when you're trying to lead your own band," Sanchez said recently from his native Mexico City.

"When you are a sideman, you show up, play the gig, and know you'll be paid a certain amount of money. Leading your own band, you have to worry about everything! This is my first tour as a leader, and I'm looking forward to seeing how hard, or easy, it will be."

Sanchez began drumming when he was 5. He later studied at Boston's prestigious Berklee College of Music, from which he graduated magna cum laude in jazz studies. ("I missed my graduation because I was on tour in Europe with Paquito D'Rivera," he recalled.) Sanchez has since drummed on albums by Metheny, Corea, Michael Brecker, Danilo Perez, Diane Reeves, Anat Cohen and other jazz luminaries.

"I'm not at the level of Pat, Chick or Michael, but I try to write music that is fun, exciting and not predictable," said the bearded drummer, who will record a live album with his band in New York during the first week of October. "Even if we're playing some complicated music that an audience can't quite fully get a grasp on, I try to have a very strong melodic factor.

"When I go to a show, I want to get excited and see some emotion. And even when I solo, I like it to be a narrative so it can tell a story. It's funny, because — a lot of times — you hear: `Oh, he's such a musical drummer.' You don't hear that when you talk about a pianist or saxophonist, because they're supposed to be musical.

"So I want to be remembered as a musical drummer, somebody who put music first and then satisfied his own ego after."

To find out more about George Varga and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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