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Russel Hisashi Baba

Winds - saxophone & flutes / taiko / composer

Russel is a gifted musician and creative artist who has focused on refining an intuitive natural style.

His distinctive sound on the saxophone and flutes, plus the innovative approach in his writing, have opened opportunities to perform and tour with esteemed artists in the creative as well as traditional fields.

Russel may be one of the first Asian American artists to produce his own work with the critically acclaimed recording “Hisashi” in 1978. In 1992 he produced “ Earth Prayer” which features pianist Andrew Hill and in 1999 “Spirit Drum- Taiko Stories From America" with Jeanne Mercer, Masato Baba, and Shoji Kameda.  In 2010 he recorded "Tadaima" and "KorewaKorewa" which features original work with Jeanne Mercer and Masato Baba.

Russel started taiko training in 1972 with the San Francisco Taiko Dojo under Grand Master Seiichi Tanaka,. Russel Baba and Jeanne Mercer founded Shasta Taiko in 1985 and ShastaYama, an annual summer outdoor taiko/music festival at the base of majestic Mount Shasta in 2005

Russel Baba has influenced and inspired his peers as well as the next generation artists and is a recognized pioneer in Asian American jazz and American taiko.

Jazz (saxophone & flutes):

  • Toured, collaborated, and recorded original music with Andrew Hill, Eddie Moore, Michael White, Gary Fitzgerald, Jeanne Mercer, Masato Baba
  • Performed, collaborated, and recorded original music with Heshima Mark Williams, Raymond Cheng, Dan Shoulte, Akbar Depriest, Mark Izu, Gordon Watanabe, Shoji Kameda
  • Performed with Eddie Marshall, Paul Jackson, Noel Jewkes, Reggie Workman, Tootie Heath, Mel Graves, Roland Prince, Joe Bonner, David Friesen, Frank Tusa, E. W. Wainwright, Babatunde, Herbie Lewis, Augusta Lee Collins, Rasul Sadik, Idris Ackamoor, Makoto Horiuchi, Sadiq Abdushahid, Jay Oliver, Andre St. James

Taiko (Japanese drum):

  • Trained and toured with Grand Master Seiichi Tanaka & San Francisco Taiko Dojo
  • Founded Shasta Taiko with Jeanne Mercer
  • Founded ShastaYama festival with Jeanne Mercer
  • Toured and collaborations with Kenny Endo
  • Collaborations with Seiichi Tanaka, Michelle Fujii, Toru Watanabe, On Ensemble, Portland Taiko, San Jose Taiko
  • Toured and recorded with Jeanne Mercer, Masato Baba, Shoji Kameda, Shasta Taiko
  • Workshop leader – national, regional, and collegiate taiko conferences
  • Cable ACE Award Best Documentary Video – Shasta Taiko
  • DVD Big Drum - Japanese American National Museum – Shasta Taiko

Gagaku (ancient Japanese court music):

  • Studied and performed with Suenobu Togi - Institute for Buddhist Studies

Music Ensemble Leader:

  • Tadaima, Shasta Taiko, Kokoro, Earth Prayer, Culturally Deprived, Legal Aliens

Music Ensembles:

  • Space Shuttle Omnibus – Eddie Moore
  • Bridges – Noel Jewkes
  • Kamakaze – Makoto Horiuchi
  • Warriors of the Rainbow – Nobuko Miyamoto
  • Phenomena – Babatunde
  • Afro Roots of Jazz – E.W. Wainwright

Recordings:

  • Original compositions / self-produced:
    • Hisashi
    • Spirit Drum
    • Earth Prayer
    • Tadaima
    • Korewakorewa
  • Original compositions:
    • “Seven” / Les Trinitaires – Andrew Hill
    • “OHHO” Dreams Come True - Andrew Hill & Chico Hamilton
    • “Use Your Hands”/ Phenomena – Babatunde
    • “Listen To The Music” / Warriors of the Rainbow – Nobuko Miyamoto
    • “Mysterious Folks Music,” “Spirit Sphere,” “Crisscross,” Seven” / Space Shuttle Omnibus – Eddie Moore

Other collaborations:

  • Japanese butoh dancers - Min Tanaka, Koiichi Tamano
  • African dancer – Malonga Casquelourd
  • Japanese folk and modern dancers - Michelle Fujii, Toru Watanabe
  • Writer Lawson Inada
  • Painter Hisako Hibi
  • Theater of Yugen – Yuriko Doi
  • Del Arte Theater – Joan Shirle;
  • Soundtracks: PBS Nisei Soldier - Loni Ding
  • Soundtrack: PBS Black History Month documentary (from Earth Prayer CD)
  • Oregon Shakespeare Festival, King Lear

Awards:

  • 12 California Arts Council Artists in Residence – Shasta Taiko classes, Mount Shasta, CA
  • 3 California Arts Council Multi-Cultural Entry Grants –  Shasta Taiko performances

Panelist:

  • California Arts Council – severed 4 years

...Russel Baba has managed to endow his alto saxophone with the timbre and flexibility of a violin. His new sound is extra-ordinarily beautiful.

- CODA

...a strong musician who in playing his own compositions is playing himself ... (and) projects a fierce, uncompromising integrity."

- DownBeat

The reference to 'the Zen of the saxophone' applies to Russel's music because of its experiential qualities. There are powerful emotions present and there are strong conceptual elements. These are contained through a sense of embodiment. It is a direct music, not theoretical. It is this unity of force that makes the music very open and spiritual."

- Option

...not only plays conventional items such as the alto saxophone, but a variety of ethnic instruments from all over the world. Even when Baba plays the alto, he gives it an eerie other-worldly quality that puts the music right into the twilight zone...a daring approach to the music, a worthwhile deviation from the norm.

- San Francisco Chronicle

russel03

...precise sense of shading and detail that characterizes his work throughout. (This was) a significant debut.

- Musician Magazine

...demonstrates agility and speed of both technique and imagination ... very rewarding and demanding music.

- Cadence

...(Russel Baba is a) unique woodwind stylist ... (with a) bright, vibrant sound...

- Jazz Times