Kurt Ribak plays 'Mingus Ah Um'

A Berkeley native, Ribak parlayed his formative musical experiences as a cellist and member of the San Francisco Boys Chorus into a passion for the bass, studying at Cal Berkeley and Boston’s Berklee College of Music before returning to the East Bay and establishing a well-deserved reputation as one of the most respected creative forces on the scene. At the top of his creative game, Ribak suffered a devastating injury in a 2012 car accident that shattered his left arm and led to a dozen surgeries, leaving the bassist’s musical future in serious doubt. Through extensive physical rehab and endless persistence, Ribak re-learned to play and eventually returned to the bandstand, and it is this hard-won struggle to reclaim his life and career that led to Onward, his newest and most personal statement to date.