Ricky Martin
About
Paiste Artist Since
January 2021
Nationality
Puerto Rico
Main Affiliation
Ricky Martin
Other Affiliation
Al DiMeola
Website
www.tonyescapa.com
„Discovering Paiste opened my ears to using cymbals as a creative tonal instrument that's an extension of the drumset, new purpose to playing cymbals. Thank you Paiste!“
Setup
Videos & Pics
Biography
Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tony Escapa first picked up a pair of drumsticks at age 9 and the chemistry was immediate. His parents recognized his driving talent and dedication and proceeded to support him early on. After moving to the United States at age 13, Tony continued to pursue music and quickly started working professionally at Disney World and locally with top 40 groups as well as with several alternative original bands in the Orlando area, while also in high school performing with it’s marching, concert and Jazz bands. After graduating from high school Tony moved back to Hometown, Puerto Rico to Purposely immerse himself in its rich music scene for several years then later enrolled in the Berklee in Puerto Rico program, and was one of two recipients to receive a full scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston. At Berklee, Tony quickly immersed himself in Boston’s musical landscape playing and recording with faculty and other outstanding students and this is when his touring life began. He traveled to several parts of the United States and as far as Japan representing Berklee as one of its top alumni and toured the world in the summertime with legendary bands like PUYA, Alfredo De La Fe Orchestra and Middle Eastern Oud and Violin Master 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 in 2001 traveled to Central and Western Africa with The Rhythm Collective led by GRAMMY nominated artist, Miguel Zenon. This quartet shared 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 2004 he became touring drummer of GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY winner, Ricky Martin. With Ricky he has toured extensively around the world, performing at the Winter Olympics in Torino, TV Shows that include The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The David Letterman Show, The Jay Leno Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, the Latin GRAMMYs, 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 "Amor Cronico, filmed and produced in Cuba by Cucu Diamantes. Tony was a creative force behind Franco De Vita’s two-time Latin GRAMMY winning production "En primera fila" and later “ Vuelve en Primera Fila" two double CD/DVD Recordings. In 2016, Tony recorded with Spain's musical Icon Miguel Bose on his MTV Unplugged Record while also becoming a local in the Vegas Strip for several years as part of Ricky Martin's "All In" 2017 Vegas Residency Show and in 2018 Tony was part of the musical production team for the Univision TV Show “La Voz US” while also performing on live TV with it’s house band. 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, Chango Menas and many more. Today, Tony is a very important figure in the music and drumming communities thanks to his impeccable taste, energy and unselfish musical versatility. He has been featured in the world’s leading Drum Magazine, Modern Drummer and was nominated in the magazine’s Readers Poll twice 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 makes the rest of the band sound great"...!
Setup Cymbals
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Details
Sizes: 16", 17", 18", 19", 20", 22"
Volume: Medium
Weight: Medium
Sound character: Full, warm, brilliant, shimmering, deep. Fairly wide range, complex mix. Quick response, fairly soft feel. Rich, strong crash sound with open low end and shimmering highs. Very versatile, responsive crash cymbal suitable for numerous musical styles.
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Details
Sizes: 14"
Volume: Soft
Weight: Medium
Sound character: Dark, dry, woody. Fairly wide range, complex mix. Soft, responsive feel. Full, warm, open sound. Loose, soggy chick sound. Perfectly suited for traditional swing patterns, but also well usable for other acoustic styles like Blues, Country, Soul or Gospel.
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Details
Sizes: 18", 22"
Volume: Medium
Weight: Medium
Sound character: Dark, warm, strong, exotic, sizzling, earthy. Wide range, slightly complex and dense mix. Fairly soft, responsive feel. Great for explosive, strong, dark accents. Complex, washy ride sound. A modern China cymbal with a wide spectrum for various musical applications. “The China is nearly smooth”, states Vinnie Colaiuta.
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Details
Sizes: 10", 8"
Volume: Soft
Weight: Light
Sound character: Full, wet with a brittle, trashy side. Fairly wide range, complex mix. Soft and very responsive, giving feel with a short, exploding sparkly splash character. Very well suited for dynamic effect accents in many musical styles. Also, well suited for hand playing in percussive set-ups.
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Details
Sizes: 16", 17", 18", 19", 20", 22"
Volume: Medium
Weight: Light
Sound character: Silvery, breathy, transparent. Fairly wide range, slightly complex and dense mix. Soft shimmering and velvety feel. A light crash cymbal with a definite retro character suited for many styles in that music genre.
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Details
Sizes: 22"
Volume: Medium
Weight: Medium
Sound character: Fairly bright, rich, open, warm. Wide range, fairly clean mix. Even, controllable feel with quick response. Crisp, clear stick sound over a rich, warm wash. All-purpose ride cymbal suitable for a broad range of musical styles. Developed in co-operation with session great Ndugu Chancler.
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