A Historical Moment in North American Taiko!

“Tadaima!” - "now, at present / I am here! / I am home!" - is a traditional Japanese announcement when one comes home.

TADAIMA is a musical home for its artists.

TADAIMA performs original music influenced by the traditions of jazz improvisation, world cultures, and modern music.

Russel Baba and Jeanne Mercer form TADAIMA’s “home” center with winds and taiko. Featuring the legendary taiko master Kenny Endo and the phenomenal bassist Gary Fitgerald.

This weekends concerts will be live streamed across the world to celebrate TAIKO in North America. These artists are masters of their craft

and Taiko Ventures is honored to be sharing their artistry with the world.

Kenny Endo

is at the vanguard of the taiko genre, continually paving new paths for this Japanese style of drumming. A performer, composer, and teacher of taiko with numerous awards and accolades, Kenny Endo is a consummate artist, blending Japanese taiko with rhythms influenced from around the world into original melodies and improvisation.

Originally trained as a jazz musician in the Asian American cultural renaissance of 1970s California, Endo began his taiko career first with L.A.’s groundbreaking Kinnara Taiko, then with the renowned San Francisco Taiko Dojo, the first kumi daiko (ensemble drumming) group outside of Japan. In 1980, he embarked on a decade-long odyssey in his ancestral Japan, studying and performing with the masters of classical drumming, traditional Tokyo festival music, and ensemble drumming. Endo has the honor of being the first non-Japanese national to have received a natori (stage name and masters license) in hogaku hayashi (classical drumming). In the hogaku world, Endo is known as Mochizuki Tajiro.

In the greater musical world, “Kenny Endo” has become synonymous with “taiko.” He is arguably one of the most versatile musicians in the genre, crossing easily between the classical Japanese style and his own neo-traditional, globally-inspired variety. Among his many distinctions are an M.A. in Ethnomusicology from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, an artist residency at the Lincoln Center Institute in New York, his own “Kenny Endo Day” proclaimed by the Mayor of Honolulu, and certificates of honor from the Hawaii State House of Representatives, State Senate, and the Honolulu City Council.

Endo has performed to critical acclaim with Tsugaru shamisen artist Hiromitsu Agatsuma in New York and Honolulu, and served as an ambassador of Japanese culture and the arts via Japan Foundation sponsored goodwill concerts and workshops in Costa Rica, the Bahamas, Jamaica, Belize, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. He also collaborated with professional Kabuki musician Saburo Mochizuki and Tokyo taiko soloist Yuu Ishizuka in Honolulu’s “Classical and Contemporary Taiko Drumming” concert. Endo was a featured artist in Japan’s “Nihon no Taiko” concert in Tokyo, the first time foreigners ever headlined the prestigious concert. Comfortable collaborating with artists of all genre, Endo continues to tread new ground for this ancient instrument, inspiring all with his creativity, technique, and infectious groove.

Endo has recorded numerous CDs of original taiko compositions, and was a featured artist on the PBS special “Spirit of Taiko.” He has performed for musicians Michael Jackson, Prince, as well as Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana. He opened for The Who, performed a duet with singer Bobby McFerrin, and is featured on the soundtracks for Kayo Hatta’s film “Picture Bride,” Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now,” recorded in motion capture suit for James Cameron’s “Avatar,” as well as numerous TV commercials. Endo’s taiko skills have taken him to the Microsoft Global Meeting in Atlanta, the Smithsonian, the National Museum of American History, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., the Lincoln Center in NYC, the Theatre de Champs-Elysee in Paris, the Kabukiza, and the Japan National Theater. He has performed as a soloist with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Honolulu Symphony, the Stanford Symphony, the Tokyo Symphony, and the Brazilian Orquestra Experimental. He has traveled across Asia, Africa, Europe, Oceania, the former Soviet Union, Australia, and the Americas in his effort to share taiko with the world.

Endo has received commissions to create and tour new work from the American Composers Forum, the McKnight Foundation, Continental Harmony, The Children’s Theater Company, the Rockefeller Foundation (MAPP), the Japan Foundation, the Freeman Foundation, Hawai`i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center, Stanford Lively Arts, and the Honolulu Mayor’s Office of Culture and the Arts.

“Island Breeze,” a trio featuring Endo, Grammy award winning Jeff Peterson (Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar) and Riley Lee (shakuhachi) was nominated for Na Hoku Hanohano awards (Hawaii’s version of the Grammys) for “Album of the Year” and “Na Pali” for “Instrumental Song of the Year” in 2015. Endo joined forces with front-ranking tabla player Abhijit Banerjee, and five-time Grammy nominee John Santos in recording “Uncommon Time: Taiko, Tabla, and Timbales,” a CD released in 2016.

Kenny Endo is honored to perform on taiko, provided courtesy of Miyamoto Unosuke Shoten.

Russel Baba

“…a strong Japanese American jazz musician who in playing his own compositions is playing himself…projects a fierce, uncompromising integrity.”
- Richard Oyama, DownBeat Magazine

“Russel Baba has managed to endow his alto saxophone with the timbre and flexibility of a violin. His new sound is extra-ordinarily beautiful…”
- Elaine Cohen; CODA Magazine

Music has always been present, but acknowledging the innate gift and talent came later when Russel developed a passion for flutes and saxophone. Self-taught, a personal sound emerged and an openness and creativity were discovered in himself.

He was blessed to work and tour with legendary jazz artists - drummer Eddie Moore, violinist Michael White, and pianist Andrew Hill, literally learning to play and develop while performing live on stage with them. Their encouragement, belief, support, generosity, and friendship deepened an understanding in his musical path, widened horizons, and bestowed a legacy of creativity, originality, and spontaneity.

Taiko and Gagaku provided an opportunity to explore and develop an appreciation for his Japanese heritage through its music. He started with Grand Master Seiichi Tanaka and San Francisco Taiko Dojo, studied Gagaku with Suenobu Togi, and later founded Shasta Taiko and ShastaYama in rural California’s Mount Shasta with fellow taiko artist and life partner Jeanne Mercer.

Being a jazz improviser and taiko artist is already an odd balance of duality that may be a reflection on living today in two or more worlds – tradition/modern, form/freedom, mind/heart, east/west.

As a saxophonist, he never imagined that he’d be involved not only with taiko, but with establishing and developing a successful annual outdoor taiko and music festival at the base of majestic Mount Shasta. Named ShastaYama, the festival’s visions are to create a quality platform to feature a wide variety of musicians and taiko artists by encouraging original works while honoring the traditions.

The musical ensemble TADAIMA, is a continuation on the creative path encouraged and inspired by mentors and fellow artists. TADAIMA features original compositions in the improvisational music tradition

“Baba is an exceptionally forceful player. Even on the bamboo flute his work has a hard, shrill quality that communicates intensely.”
- J. N. Thomas, Ear Magazine

“The reference to ‘the Zen of the saxophone’ applies to Russel’s music…powerful emotions present…strong conceptual elements…contained through a sense of embodiment…very open and spiritual.”
- Brian Auerbach, Option Magazine

Jeanne Aiko Mercer

is a recognized and honored American taiko pioneer. She has inspired a new generation of taiko artists. Jeanne trained and toured with San Francisco Taiko Dojo under Grand Master Seiichi Tanaka and established Shasta Taiko and the ShastaYama Festival with Russel Baba.

Jeanne has taken taiko to new areas performing and recording jazz influenced music and improvisation as well as writing original compositions for taiko and jazz. Her taiko compositions are the center of Shasta Taiko’s repertoire and are considered “classic” in modern American taiko.

She leads workshops with Russel Baba at national, regional, and collegiate conferences in taiko and improvisation.

Mercer has collaborated and performed original work with Russel Baba and jazz artists - Eddie Moore, Michael White, Andrew Hill, Gary Fitzgerald, Mark Izu, Makoto Horiuchi,; taiko artists - Seiichi Tanaka, Kenny Endo, Masato Baba, San Jose Taiko, Portland Taiko, and On Ensemble; Japanese butoh dancer Koichi Tamano; writer Lawson Inada; and painter Hisako Hibi.

She has contributed to movie soundtracks – Star Wars and Apocalypse Now, and is featured on recordings by Russel Baba – Hisashi, Spirit Drum, Tadaima, and Korewakorewa.

Gary Fitzgerald

is known for his dynamic bass sound, creative spontaneity, and a unique writing approach.

Gary has been a bassist for a few decades. He learned to play electric bass first and then graduated to standup bass. He plays all types of music from Afro to Zydeco. His influences include the likes of Charles Mingus, Ray Brown, Ron Carter, Charlie Hayden, Jaco Pastorius, and many others. He has worked with E. W. Wainwright, Eddie Moore, Michael White, Eddie Henderson, Lou Rawls, Ray Brown, Jr. to name a few. Gary is always looking for new ways to express how the bass can be used to lift music to creative new levels and still hold down the groove.

Gary has performed and recorded original music with jazz artists - wnd player Russel Baba, drummer Eddie Moore, violinist Michael White, drummer E. W. Wainwright, and pianist Ron Hart. He has also performed with trumpeter Eddie Henderson and guitarist Bill deArango. Fitzgerald has toured and recorded with Eddie Moore’s Space Shuttle Omnibus and E.W. Wainwright’s Afro Roots of Jazz. He currently performs music with several Los Angeles based ensembles.