While Sánchez was still at the Conservatory in 1997, his teacher, Danilo Pérez, recommended him to Paquito D'Rivera for the drum chair in Dizzy Gillespie's United Nations Orchestra, which led to him touring with the orchestra. Later in 1997, Perez invited Sánchez to be a part of his acoustic trio which resulted in extensive touring, and the recording of the Grammy Award-nominated album Motherland. The tour resulted in him being heard by legendary guitarist Pat Metheny who invited Sánchez to join the Pat Metheny Group as its drummer after a series of auditions. The group recorded two albums with Sánchez. The first one, Speaking of Now, won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album in 2003. A DVD, under the same name, documenting the tour has been released. The second album, The Way Up, was released in January 2005. Sánchez has been a part of various quartets and trios under Metheny's direction. The Pat Metheny Trio released Day Trip in January 2008 to wide acclaim among jazz critics. In 2012, he was the drummer on Pat Metheny's album Unity Band. In 2006, Sánchez joined the faculty of New York University. The next year, he recorded his first solo album, Migration, on CAM Jazz. The album includes Pat Metheny, Chick Corea, Chris Potter, David Sánchez, and Scott Colley. All About Jazz called it "One of the best debuts of 2007." Sánchez said of the album: "I didn't want people to say this is a drummer's album...I wanted it to be something that could be from any instrumentalist. I thought in terms of music, not how many solos I got and if I blew enough chops or not. I wanted the music to be very melodic and accessible and with a lot of really good interplay." In 2010, Sánchez released his second solo album, Live in New York at Jazz Standard, to positive reviews. The double live album was recorded at the Jazz Standard in New York City after a U.S. tour of Antonio's band, which included Miguel Zenón on alto saxophone, David Sánchez on tenor saxophone, and Scott Colley on acoustic bass guitar. The year 2013 marked the release of his third solo album. New Life was recorded in January 2012. It includes 8 original compositions and features Thana Alexa on vocals, David Binney on alto saxophone, Donny McCaslin on tenor saxophone, John Escreet on piano and Matt Brewer on bass. All his solo albums have been released under the Cam Jazz label. In 2014, Sánchez composed the film score for Birdman. The soundtrack album was released on October 14, 2014. The score earned him nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, BAFTA Award for Best Film Music, and other nominations; he won the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Score and Satellite Award for Best Original Score. However, he was disqualified to compete for the Academy Award for Best Original Score, since the film also contained a significant amount of classical music. Sánchez's 2017 album, Bad Hombre, earned him a Grammy Nomination for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album. Sánchez continued working with the Pat Metheny band in 2019 as they toured extensively and released an album of new material in 2020 entitled From This Place.
Equipment
Sánchez plays Yamaha drums, Remo drumheads, and Zildjian cymbals and sticks, as well as LP Percussion exclusively.
