At age 9 years and 9 months, Tiger Onitsuka was recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's youngest professional drummer after releasing his first album, Tiger! on the Columbia/Savoy label in April 2008.
Current world record holder is Julian Pavone from Macomb Township, Michigan, who was certified as of March 21, 2010, when he was 5 years 10 months and 3 days old.
Tiger, whose real name is Taiga Onitsuka, was born in Kyoto in 1998.
He 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.
Tiger Onitsuka 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, Tiger 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, Tiger 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.
Tiger Onitsuka 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.
Tiger Onitsuka 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;
Hank Jones(p), Mitsuru "Nishi" Nishiyama (b), Terumasa Hino (tp), Eddie Henderson (tp), Buster Williams (b), Benny Green (p), Lou Donaldson (as), Toshiko Akiyoshi (p), Othello Molineaux (steel drum), Kermit Ruffins (vo, tp), Clifton Anderson (tb), Marlon Jordan (tp), Delfeayo Marsalis (tb), Paul Jackson (b), John Farnsworth (ts), Takeshi Yamaguchi (g), Yosuke Yamashita (p), Mike LeDonne (p), Eiji Kitamura (cl), Kazumi Watanabe (g), TOKU (vo, fgh), Yutaka Sado (Conductor), Sienna Wind Orchestra, Mingus Big Band, Carlton Holms(p), Dwayne Burno(b), and so on...
