Kurt Ribak
Kurt Ribak
SFJAZZ Hotplate

Kurt Ribak plays 'Mingus Ah Um'

OCT 20-23| TRADITIONS IN TRANSITION

Oct 20, 2022
Joe Henderson Lab

PLEASE NOTE:
This page is an archive of a past production


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Original show description below.

Bay Area-based bass virtuoso and vocalist Kurt Ribak pays tribute to Charles Mingus and his 1959 Columbia masterpiece, featuring “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat,” “Fables of Faubus,” and more.

An artist who calls his own rollicking mix of bebop sophistication and body-moving grooves “Charles Mingus meets The Meters,” Ribak is the perfect musician to honor the legacy of the bass icon.

Prior to each performance, DJ Weekend Girl will spin a special curated vinyl DJ set that compliments this evening's music. 

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.

More

Ribak has established a well-deserved reputation as one of the most respected creative forces on the scene.

Kurt's ability to take you on a journey from the deepest waters of the Caribbean to the funky alleys of the urban jungle in one listening makes him a truly gifted original in my book.

Chris Cortez, KCSM

Kurt's ability to take you on a journey from the deepest waters of the Caribbean to the funky alleys of the urban jungle in one listening makes him a truly gifted original in my book.

Chris Cortez, KCSM

Personnel

Kurt Ribak bass & vocals

Lincoln Adler saxophones

Tom Griesser saxophone, clarinet

Greg Sankovich piano

David Rokeach drums

...nice big bass tone, reggae meets swing, Family Man Barrett meets Gene Harris.

Whit Browne, Berklee College of Music

...nice big bass tone, reggae meets swing, Family Man Barrett meets Gene Harris.

Whit Browne, Berklee College of Music

Personnel

Kurt Ribak bass & vocals

Lincoln Adler saxophones

Tom Griesser saxophone, clarinet

Greg Sankovich piano

David Rokeach drums

Watch & Listen

Kurt Ribak

Blue Mambo

Charles Mingus

Better Git It In Your Soul

Kurt Ribak

Blue Mambo

Charles Mingus

Better Git It In Your Soul

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