Tiger Onitsuka
Encyclopedia
is Japanese jazz
drummer, who holds the Guinness World Record for being "The World's Youngest Professional Jazz Drummer" after releasing his first album, Tiger! on the Columbia/Savoy label at the age of 9 years old in April 2008.
Onitsuka started playing the drums from the age of 5. He released his first DVD, I Got Jazz, when he was 6, soon after he started playing on stage.
He performed at a concert in Harlem and Manhattan, New York in 2005 at the age of 7.
Followed by a concert at a national treasure and a World Heritage Site Kamigamo Shrine
in Kyoto, on 7 October 2007, Onitsuka performed at the Yokohama
Jazz Promenade.
In November 2007, Onitsuka performed at the 3rd Ginza International Jazz Festival with his band "Tiger, Burning Bright".
In 2008, Onitsuka performed with Eddie Henderson (tp) in New York City and with Marlon Jordan (tp) in New Orleans, followed by concerts in Korea, Singapore and Spain.
Back in Japan, followed by the performances at Blue Note Nagoya, Tokyo Midtown, and the premiere of Tokyo Jazz, he had a concert with Hank Jones
. At the time, Jones being 88 and Onitsuka 8, their age difference was 80 years and as the biggest age differences between players in one band, it drew great interests of the media.
In October 2008, Onitsuka released his third album, A Time In New York, recorded at Clinton Recording Studio in New York with the two top jazz musicians, bassist Buster Williams
and pianist Benny Green
.
He is the youngest jazz drum instructor at Music Labo, a private music school in Kyoto since 2009, and he leads the experimental courses for young children aspiring to be drummers.
He has been offered wardrobes and shoes as endorsement by Onitsuka Tiger of ASICS
since 2006 due to the similarity in names.
Tiger Onitsuka has played with the following musicians.
Hank Jones
(p), Eddie Henderson
(tp), Buster Williams
(b), Benny Green
(p), Lou Donaldson
(as), Evelyn Blakey (vo), Mitsuru "Nishi" Nishiyama (b), Terumasa Hino
(tp), Toshiko Akiyoshi
(p), Othello Molineaux
(steel drum), Kermit Ruffins
(vo, tp), Clifton Anderson
(tb), Marlon Jordan
(tp), Delfeayo Marsalis
(tb), Henry Franklin
(b), Paul Jackson
(b), John Farnsworth (ts), Yosuke Yamashita
(p), Mike LeDonne
(p), Greg Bandy (dr), Tommy Campbell (dr), Tony Williams (as), Carlton Holms(p), Dwayne Burno(b), Satoshi Inoue
(g), Kengo Nakamura (b), Eiji Kitamura
(cl), Kazumi Watanabe
(g), Mingus Big Band
, Sienna Wind Orchestra, Yutaka Sado
(Conductor) and so on...
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
drummer, who holds the Guinness World Record for being "The World's Youngest Professional Jazz Drummer" after releasing his first album, Tiger! on the Columbia/Savoy label at the age of 9 years old in April 2008.
Onitsuka started playing the drums from the age of 5. He released his first DVD, I Got Jazz, when he was 6, soon after he started playing on stage.
He performed at a concert in Harlem and Manhattan, New York in 2005 at the age of 7.
Followed by a concert at a national treasure and a World Heritage Site Kamigamo Shrine
Kamigamo Shrine
is an important Shinto sanctuary on the banks of the Kamo River in north Kyoto, first founded in 678. Its formal name is the .It is one of the oldest Shinto shrines in Japan and is one of the seventeen Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto which have been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site...
in Kyoto, on 7 October 2007, Onitsuka performed at the Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
Jazz Promenade.
In November 2007, Onitsuka performed at the 3rd Ginza International Jazz Festival with his band "Tiger, Burning Bright".
In 2008, Onitsuka performed with Eddie Henderson (tp) in New York City and with Marlon Jordan (tp) in New Orleans, followed by concerts in Korea, Singapore and Spain.
Back in Japan, followed by the performances at Blue Note Nagoya, Tokyo Midtown, and the premiere of Tokyo Jazz, he had a concert with Hank Jones
Hank Jones
Henry "Hank" Jones was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, arranger, and composer. Critics and musicians described Jones as eloquent, lyrical, and impeccable. In 1989, The National Endowment for the Arts honored him with the NEA Jazz Masters Award...
. At the time, Jones being 88 and Onitsuka 8, their age difference was 80 years and as the biggest age differences between players in one band, it drew great interests of the media.
In October 2008, Onitsuka released his third album, A Time In New York, recorded at Clinton Recording Studio in New York with the two top jazz musicians, bassist Buster Williams
Buster Williams
Charles Anthony Williams is an American jazz bassist.-Biography:Williams has gained prestige among jazz musicians as a solid supportive player. Since the early 1960s, he has made subtle swing, a precise rhythm and superb technique the landmark of his playing...
and pianist Benny Green
Benny Green
Benny Green was a British jazz saxophonist, who was best known by the public for his radio shows and books.- Early life :...
.
He is the youngest jazz drum instructor at Music Labo, a private music school in Kyoto since 2009, and he leads the experimental courses for young children aspiring to be drummers.
He has been offered wardrobes and shoes as endorsement by Onitsuka Tiger of ASICS
ASICS
ASICS is a Japanese athletic equipment company. ASICS produces professional footwear and sports equipment designed for football, running, netball, tennis, badminton, squash, martial arts, cricket, golf, wrestling, track & field, cross-training, volleyball, cheerleading, lacrosse, and for many other...
since 2006 due to the similarity in names.
Tiger Onitsuka has played with the following musicians.
Hank Jones
Hank Jones
Henry "Hank" Jones was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, arranger, and composer. Critics and musicians described Jones as eloquent, lyrical, and impeccable. In 1989, The National Endowment for the Arts honored him with the NEA Jazz Masters Award...
(p), Eddie Henderson
Eddie Henderson (musician)
Eddie Henderson is an American jazz trumpet and flugelhorn player. Henderson's influences include Booker Little, Clifford Brown, Woody Shaw and Miles Davis.-Family influence and early music history:...
(tp), Buster Williams
Buster Williams
Charles Anthony Williams is an American jazz bassist.-Biography:Williams has gained prestige among jazz musicians as a solid supportive player. Since the early 1960s, he has made subtle swing, a precise rhythm and superb technique the landmark of his playing...
(b), Benny Green
Benny Green
Benny Green was a British jazz saxophonist, who was best known by the public for his radio shows and books.- Early life :...
(p), Lou Donaldson
Lou Donaldson
Lou Donaldson is a jazz alto saxophonist. He was born in Badin, North Carolina. He is best known for his soulful, bluesy approach to playing the alto saxophone, although in his formative years he was, as many were of the bebop era, heavily influenced by Charlie Parker.His first recordings were...
(as), Evelyn Blakey (vo), Mitsuru "Nishi" Nishiyama (b), Terumasa Hino
Terumasa Hino
is a Japanese jazz trumpeter. Currently based in New York, Hino is widely acknowledged as one of Japan's finest jazz musicians. His instruments include the trumpet, cornet and flügelhorn.-Biography:...
(tp), Toshiko Akiyoshi
Toshiko Akiyoshi
is a Japanese American jazz pianist, composer/arranger and bandleader. Among a very few successful female instrumentalists of her generation in jazz, she is also recognized as a major figure in jazz composition. She has received 14 Grammy nominations, and she was the first woman to win the Best...
(p), Othello Molineaux
Othello Molineaux
Othello Molineaux is an acclaimed jazz steelpan player who spent much of his earlier career backing bass guitarist Jaco Pastorius. Additionally, Molineaux has worked with other musicians such as Monty Alexander, Chicago, and David Johansen.-References:...
(steel drum), Kermit Ruffins
Kermit Ruffins
Kermit Ruffins is a jazz trumpeter, singer and composer from New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. He has been heavily influenced by Louis Armstrong, Louis Jordan and Eddy Jefferson. Ruffins accompanies a large portion of his songs with his own vocals, and he says that the highest note he can hit...
(vo, tp), Clifton Anderson
Clifton Anderson
Clifton Anderson is an American jazz musician, a trombone player. He grew up surrounded by music. His father was a church organist /choir director, and his mother a singer and pianist. It was no surprise that Clifton exhibited an affinity for music at an early age...
(tb), Marlon Jordan
Marlon Jordan
Marlon Jordan is an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader.-Biography:Born Marlon Jordan, one of six performers of a prominent family of New Orleans musicians...
(tp), Delfeayo Marsalis
Delfeayo Marsalis
Delfeayo Marsalis is an American jazz trombonist and record producer.He is a member of the Marsalis family of jazz musicians: father Ellis Marsalis, Jr. , and brothers Branford Marsalis , Wynton Marsalis , and Jason Marsalis...
(tb), Henry Franklin
Henry Franklin
Henry "Skipper" Franklin is an American jazz double-bassist.- Biography :Franklin played on Hugh Masekela's 1968 number one single, "Grazing in the Grass," as well as with Masekela's band at the Monterey International Pop Festival in June 1967...
(b), Paul Jackson
Paul Jackson
Paul Jackson may refer to:*Paul Jackson , British television producer*Paul Jackson , British video game publisher*Paul Jackson , English rugby league player...
(b), John Farnsworth (ts), Yosuke Yamashita
Yosuke Yamashita
Yōsuke Yamashita is an acclaimed jazz pianist, composer, essayist, and writer from Tokyo, Japan.He is praised by critics for his unique piano style...
(p), Mike LeDonne
Mike LeDonne
Michael LeDonne is a jazz pianist and organist known for post-bop and hard bop.His parents ran a music store with his father also being a jazz guitarist. He played with his father at gigs from the age of ten...
(p), Greg Bandy (dr), Tommy Campbell (dr), Tony Williams (as), Carlton Holms(p), Dwayne Burno(b), Satoshi Inoue
Satoshi Inoue
Satoshi Inoue is the name of:* Satoshi Inoue , jazz guitarist* Satoshi Inoue * Satoshi Inoue * Satoshi Inoue , Japanese politician and member of the House of Councillors for the Japanese Communist Party...
(g), Kengo Nakamura (b), Eiji Kitamura
Eiji Kitamura
Eiji Kitamura is a Japanese jazz clarinetist originally from Tokyo who made his debut at the age of 22.Kitamura devoted himself to clarinet playing while still an undergraduate at Keio University in Tokyo. He first came to prominence in the U.S. at the 20th Anniversary Jam Session of the Monterey...
(cl), Kazumi Watanabe
Kazumi Watanabe
Kazumi Watanabe is a jazz and jazz fusion guitarist, from Tokyo, Japan. He was born on October 14, 1953 Kazumi learned to play guitar from Sadanori Nakamure, one of Japan's grandmaster guitarists. Kazumi released his first recording in 1971, and quickly became a promising guitarist in his own right...
(g), Mingus Big Band
Mingus Big Band
The Mingus Big Band is an ensemble, based in New York City, that specializes in the compositions of the late Charles Mingus. It is managed by his widow, Sue Mingus and represented by Tree Lawn Artists, Inc.. In addition to its weekly Monday night appearance at the Jazz Standard in New York City,...
, Sienna Wind Orchestra, Yutaka Sado
Yutaka Sado
is a Japanese conductor.While still in school, Yutaka Sado obtained a position in the Kansai Nikikai, a Japanese school of opera, where he had the opportunity to work with the New Japan Philharmonic and the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, learning operatic repertoire. In 1987, he traveled to the United...
(Conductor) and so on...
Albums
- Tiger! (23 April 2008 from Columbia Savoy Label)
- Incredible Tiger - Live (23 April 2008 from Spicerecords)
- A Time in New York (22 October 2008 from Columbia Savoy Label)
Albums (as Tiger, Burning Bright)
- What's Happiness (2007 from TRJ Records)
- Cathedral (2007 from TRJ Records)