2025 TADAIMA: A Fully Improvised Concert: A Musical Encounter Between Masters of Taiko and Jazz - Live. Unscripted. Unrepeatable.NEW

Jazz Meets Taiko: A One-Time-Only, Fully Improvised Concert. 
TADAIMA is a three-night, fully improvised concert featuring four trailblazing artists in taiko and jazz: Russel Baba, Jeanne Mercer, Kenny Endo, and Gary Fitzgerald. With decades of collaboration and deep musical trust between them, these performers are joining up for a rare, spontaneous musical conversation-created live on stage, with no setlists or rehearsals.

Each night offers something entirely new, shaped in real time through listening, risk-taking, and deep artistic intuition. From taiko to saxophone to upright bass, the blend of sounds is rooted in tradition while reaching for something completely unrepeatable.

TADAIMA takes place April 25-27 at the Jefferson Center for the Arts in Mt. Shasta, CA but the best way to experience it is through the livestream, so you can tune in from anywhere in the world!

Livestream tickets are $35 and include access to all three nights, plus 7-day replay access after the final performance.

Join us from wherever you are for this once-in-a-lifetime event.

More info + livestream tickets at: https://shastataiko.org/tadaima/

Dates
• April 25th at 7 PM PT
• April 26th at 7 PM PT
• April 27th at 3 PM PT

Tickets  Weekend Pass

About TADAIMA: A Historical Moment in North American Taiko
“Tadaima” - meaning “I’m home” in Japanese - is both a greeting and a declaration. For the artists in this fully improvised ensemble, TADAIMA is a musical home rooted in taiko and jazz.

Formed by taiko pioneers Russel Baba and Jeanne Mercer, TADAIMA is joined by legendary taiko master Kenny Endo and acclaimed bassist Gary Fitzgerald. Together, they explore original music shaped by jazz improvisation, global rhythms, and deep cultural roots.

Kenny Endo, a trailblazer in contemporary taiko, blends traditional Japanese drumming with global influences. He is the first non-Japanese national to receive a stage name in classical drumming and has performed worldwide - from the Kennedy Center to collaborations with jazz legends.

Russel Baba, an expressive saxophonist and flutist, merges jazz improvisation with traditional Japanese music, creating a unique voice that reflects both cultural identity and artistic freedom. Alongside Jeanne Mercer, an innovator in American taiko and co-founder of Shasta Taiko and the ShastaYama Festival, the two have helped shape the direction of modern taiko through original works and collaborations.

Gary Fitzgerald brings decades of jazz experience and a distinctive bass style that grounds the ensemble with rhythm and spontaneity. He has performed with a range of artists across genres, always pushing the expressive boundaries of the bass.

TADAIMA is more than a performance - it’s a living, breathing conversation between masters of sound.