Tony Escapa is from San Juan, Puerto Rico and was inspired to play drums at age 11 after seeing a Yamaha double bass drum set sitting next to him. He was immediately intrigued and began playing the kit without any training. His father astounded, got Tony a practice pad, some sticks and said to him that in order to get a drum set he had to prove that playing drums is what he wanted. Tony had to learn rudiments and practice for at least two hours a day. But his father didn't really know what he was getting into only because Tony would practice not for two, but from four to eight hours a day.

At age 14, Tony moved to Orlando, Fla. where he was trained in Classical, Marching, and Jazz music, while also playing professionally with his father, who is an incredible pianist and has been Tony's inspiration since the beginning of his drumming career. At age 15, Tony became eager to learn of his heritage after seeing the great Giovanni Hidalgo, a Grammy award-winning and world renowned percussionist who later became a mentor to him, teaching Tony different approaches to Latin Percussion playing.

At 18, Tony returns home and indulges himself in the rich musical scene Puerto Rico offered at the time. After a few years Tony was asked to be a part of a program called Berklee in Puerto Rico, a program that offered a full scholarship to attend the college. Nonetheless Tony was one of the two recipients of the scholarship, who later performed at the Puerto Rico Heineken Jazz fest. In '99 Tony moved to Boston and started attending Berklee College of Music, and also played and recorded locally. At Berklee Tony was quickly recognized as very promising student and was chosen to represent the college in Japan, the states, and later as a spokesman to the College in Puerto Rico.

In 2003, Tony moved to New York, quickly becoming part of the local Jazz scene playing with artists such as Simon Shaheen, Claudia Acuña, Miguel Zenon, Dana Leong, Jason Lindner, Caribbean Jazz Project, Alfredo De la Fe and John Benitez trio – all part of New York's music scene. Tony also recorded three instructional DVDs for LP music group, and has performed or recorded with Obbie Bermudez, Viva La Salsa – a tribute to Latin music, El Reencuentro, Larry Harlow, Paoli Mejias and Leo Blanco. Tony was also a part of the Jazz Ambassador a program with the Kennedy Center of Arts and traveled to Central and Western Africa to bring Latin Jazz music to that side of the world.