Tony Escapa was gifted with a natural sense of music and has been praised by
legendary icons. Phil Ramone once said to him "you are here to touch souls thru music
my friend". Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, He first picked up a pair of
drumsticks at age 9 and the chemistry was immediate. After years of careful study, his
parents recognized his driving talent and dedication and his father decided to move to
the States taking him with. As a High School teenager Tony practiced drums constantly
and quickly started working professionally as well as for fun with several alternative
original bands in the Orlando area while also performing in his high school marching,
concert and Jazz bands. After graduating from high school Tony moved back to PR to
immerse himself in it's rich music scene, before becoming one of two local recipients to
receive a full scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston. At Berklee, Tony
was chosen to represent the College around the world, and that's when his touring life
began. He travelled all over the US, and as far as Japan, and spent the summer time
touring with bands including PUYA, Alfredo De La Fe, and Middle Eastern artist Simon
Shaheen. After college Tony headed to NYC to become part of one the most important
and creative music scenes in the world. Tony was chosen as a Jazz ambassador at the
Kennedy Center Of Arts in Washington and traveled to Central and Western Africa with
The Rhythm Collective. This quartet, led by Miguel Zenon, shares Africa's influence in
the US among other genres including Latin Jazz. With such rich influences, Tony's
musical boundaries just kept expanding and in 04 he became Ricky Martin's touring
drummer. With Ricky he has toured extensively around the world, performing at the
Winter Olympics in Torino, TV Shows that include Oprah, Ellen Degeneres, David
Letterman, Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, the Grammy's, and in countless
arenas all over the globe. Tony Escapa has also been in films like "The Other Woman"
by Nick Cassavettes and also Cucu Diamantes "Amor Cronico" a film filmed and
produced in Cuba. Tony was a creative force behind 2 Latin Grammy winning recording
with Venezuelan Pop Singer/ Songwritter Franco De Vita "En primera fila" and later "En
Primera Fila 2". In 2016 recorded with Spain's musical Icon Miguel Bose on his MTV
Unplugged Record while also becoming a local in the Vegas Strip, as part of Ricky
Martin's "All In" 2017 Vegas Residency Show. He has also performed and recorded with
a wide array of artist that include Al Di Meola, Caribbean Jazz Project, David Sanchez,
Especial Banco Popular De Puerto Rico, Jerry Medina y la Banda, Steve Jenkins, Oz
Noy, Dana Leong, Claudia Acuña and many more. Today, Tony is a very important figure
in the music and drumming communities thanks to his impecable taste, energy and
unselfish musical versatility. He has been featured in the worlds leading Drum
Magazine, Modern Drummer and was nominated in the magazine’s Readers Poll twice
one in 2013 in the ”Best Pop Drummer" category and again in 2017 in the “World/
Percussion” category. In the words of one of his mentors, Jamey Haddad, "Tony not
only plays well, he make's the rest of the band sound great"...!
