Tiger Onitsuka

Tiger Onitsuka (鬼束 大我, Onitsuka Taiga, born 9 July 1998) 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.

Biography

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.