Fighting for the love of music

In 2020, the Covid pandemic was raging in New York. Bodies were piling up in hospital morgues, and racially-motivated attacks on Asian Americans were on the rise. Early evening on Sept. 27, a young Japanese jazz pianist, Tadataka Unno, was riding the subway home to his wife and newborn son when a group of teenagers, poisoned by the political rhetoric (“China Flu, “Kung Flu”), began to beat up Mr. Unno.

Briefly getting away, he made it to the street, where the attack continued while onlookers watched. He said, “I thought this was the way I was going to die.” After surgery on his broken collarbone, he was forced to recuperate at home due to the lack of hospital beds. Not knowing if he would ever play again, and fearful of going back out on the street, he decided to move his family back to Japan. Then began a long period of physical and emotional healing. He wondered if he would ever be able to return to the United States without fear.

Tada first came to New York in 2008 at the age of 27, pursuing a dream of someday playing with the greats. His first break came when he met jazz pianist George Cables, his soon-to-be mentor.

Cables has performed in the Taos Jazz Festival every year since its inception, but scheduling problems arose this year. While exploring other options, Cables told us about Tada’s story. Since the attack, he has begun making a few trips to the states. And being close friends with the three other members of the Taos Festival Allstars, he agreed to make the long trip from Japan to perform with them at the Taos Center for the Arts on Nov. 9.

In booking Tada, we were concerned about how to handle publicity, not wanting to say anything that might be emotionally painful to him. But when we contacted him, he responded, “I don’t mind telling what happened to me. Now, it’s more important to me that people know about my coming back. And that I keep fighting for love with music.”

Tada will be spending a few days in Taos, and we hope the spirit and beauty of our community will aid in his emotional healing process… and maybe have a picture of Taos in his mind when he thinks of America. We know he will remember the incredibly appreciative Taos audience as we join him in fighting for love with music.