RECORDINGS - We have five recordings.
Our records are played on KCSM-FM, San Diego's Jazz 88, PRI's "Jazz After Hours" (syndicated on 70 stations), KPFA, KZFR, KKUP, KZSC, KRCB, soulandjazz.com's "The Creative Source" and more.

The newest record, "onward" features Greg Sankovich, Ross Wilson, Lincoln Adler, Russ Gold, Alan Hall, Michaelle Goerlitz, Myles Boisen, and Kurt.
It's our best record yet. It was recorded at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley by Adam Muñoz and produced by Greg, Lincoln, and Kurt.

Purchase: You can buy Kurt Ribak's CDs, downloads, etc. online at, on iTunes and all the other usual online sources, at The Groove Yard in Oakland at 5555 Claremont in Oakland, at Bird & Beckett Books & Records, 653 Chenery St., San Francisco, at Down Home Music, 10341 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito, CA.

Streaming: You can also stream us on YouTube, Spotify, Qobuz and Pandora, as well as other streaming platforms.

NEW RECORD

We released a new record - "PAST PRESENT FUTURE" May 17 2025, at the Joe Henderson Lab at SFJAZZ. It will be out on LP, CD, and streaming.

The tunes are my own compositions, with the exception of a cover of Elvis Costello's "Almost Blue."

The band on the record is the band that appeared at the May 17 SFJAZZ show:

Kurt Ribak - upright bass, vocals, songwriter, bandleader
Greg Sankovich - piano
Lincoln Adler - saxophones
David Rokeach - drums.

Recorded at 25th Street Recording - Adam Muñoz recording engineer.  Mixed by Lincoln Adler and Greg Sankovich.

"PAST PRESENT FUTURE" 

LPs for sale at

Hercules Records - 1734 Alcatraz Avenue, Berkeley, CA - https://www.herculesrecords.com 
Devine Records and Vintage - 817a Main Street, Martinez, CA - https://devinerecordsandvintage.com
Bird & Beckett Books and Records - 653 Chenery Street, San Francisco, CA - https://birdbeckett.com
If they don't have it, they've sold out, in which case let them and me know you want it!

CD Sales 
I will be updating the website soon with info on where to buy the CDs.  You can also contact me directly at kurt@ribak.com or 510-703-7035

Bird & Beckett Books and Records - 653 Chenery Street, San Francisco, CA - https://birdbeckett.com

If you want to hire my band for a house concert - or are a nonprofit interested in presenting or underwriting jazz performances, please contact me.

Kurt Ribak Trio - featuring Lincoln Adler, Scott Foster and special guest Scott Larson
Saturday, June 7, 7:30 to 9:30 PM
Bird & Beckett Books and Records
https://birdbeckett.com
635 Chenery Street
San Francisco, CA 94131

$20 cash cover charge at the door; Venmo accepted as well.

Seating limited. For reservations, call the shop at 415-586-3733

Bird & Beckett is a very special place. It's in a charming neighborhood in Glen Park, it's close to BART, they book lots of live music, AND it's an outstanding bookstore.

For me a good neighborhood has good coffee and a good book store. I grew up in Berkeley and spent much of my life prowling the great bookstores of Berkeley - most of which are now gone. Bird & Beckett is still here. You can BYOB - there's a store on the corner if you want something to drink during the show. This store has a great inventory- lots of books you won't see elsewhere, including lots of local authors. They also have a small but select choice of CDs and LPs. And you can get good coffee in the area.

I'll lead a group featuring Lincoln Adler on sax and Scott Foster on guitar. Most of you have seen me play with Lincoln but may not know Scott. Scott is one of the best guitarists on the scene. We've played together over 30 years. Super player and great person.

Scott Larson will be a special guest on trombone. He's played with my group before and he and I also go way back.

The show is underwritten by Jazz in the Neighborhood through its Guaranteed Wage Fund. This worthy program helps make performing sustainable for musicians. Jazz in the Neighborhood is worthy of support - I donate and support them.

Kurt Ribak Trio - Original Jazz
Friday, June 20, 7 PM to 9 PM
regular gig - third Friday of every month
Roxx on Main - California Cuisine - INDOOR SHOW
https://www.roxxonmain.com
627 Main Street, Martinez, CA 94553
Call 925-370-7699 for reservations

My band returns to Roxx on Main in Martinez. We'll be INDOORS.   Make reservations if you can, as seating is limited. Lincoln Adler on sax, Andy Ostwald on keyboards. Andy played on some tracks on the Kurt Ribak Trio CD "gone" and on my first show as a leader at Yoshi's San Francisco.

Here are a couple of tracks of Andy playing on that album. Here's "gone," written for death of my father: https://youtu.be/_2ci8K-TyvA?si=Iefu4zh2Q9I8V7kn

And here's "River Chorus" - a deceptive tune in that it sounds very simple but has a tricky form: https://youtu.be/DcXHLUPDXL4?si=Kss9gsoRKwjHRKY6

Roxx continues to roll up the awards
Roxx was awarded "Best Restaurant" in the 2025 Best of Martinez awards - https://www.thebestofmartinez.com/category/6496/best-restaurant

Roxx also received multiple Reader's Choice awards from the East Bay Times:

Roxx on Main wins the 2024
East Bay Times Reader's Choice Awards

1st Place categories:
* Best place to hear live music
* Best specialty cocktail
* Best American food

Roxx also won "Best Live Music Spot" from Diablo Magazine - https://www.diablomag.com/2024-best-of-the-east-bay-complete-list-of-winners/article_bc083c32-39c0-11ef-a516-d7987581ae6a.html

Executive Chef Lesley Stiles and Chef de Cuisine Tony Lauro consistently create outstanding food. I've repeatedly come on my own time and dime to eat here and cheer on other bands. The restaurant was featured on the KQED-TV show "Check, Please." The food, California Cuisine, is exceptional - Go here for a YouTube link to the episode featuring Roxx - the episode features three worthy restaurants, but the segment about Roxx on Main starts at 14:27.

The restaurant serves food until 8:45 PM and there is a full bar.  Make reservations by calling 925-370-7699 - Roxx is a popular place.

Downtown Martinez has become a center of live music, as this SFGATE story notes - https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/martinez-bay-area-live-music-concerts-16717883.php. You may want to walk around and check out various other bands playing nearby - it's become quite the scene, with brewpubs, BBQ restaurants, etc. The town itself is worth exploring, dating back to Gold Rush days. The downtown has many historic buildings, and the train station is worth checking out.

Cool Record Store and Band Alert:
There's a really cool used vinyl and vintage stuff on Main Street two blocks from Roxx - Devine Records & Vintage: https://devinerecordsandvintage.com
I've bought a bunch of records from Pete and Sandie. Pete also is a fine drummer, working as a sideman and leading his own blues band, HowellDevine. Go check out the store and the band.

The store was awarded "Best Boutique" and "Best Antiques/Vintage" in the 2025 Best of Martinez awards. - https://www.thebestofmartinez.com/category/6441/best-boutique, and https://www.thebestofmartinez.com/category/6432/best-antiques-vintage

Update! https://devinerecordsandvintage.com now has LPs of my latest record for sale!   They're at 817a Main Street, Martinez, CA.
Kurt's LP at Devine Records

Peninsula and Silicon Valley dwellers - free one-hour noon concert at Stanford Hospital Tuesday, July 8
Tuesday July 8, noon to one PM
Kurt Ribak Quartet - Original Jazz
Stanford Hospital
500 Pasteur Drive
Music Lounge, 3rd floor
Stanford, CA

I will be playing with the Usual Suspects - Greg Sankovich piano, Lincoln Adler sax, David Rokeach drums. If you're free mid-day and live on the Peninsula or Silicon Valley this is a rare chance to see us close to your home. Plus, it's free. Come if you can! This is presented free as part of the Reller Family Concert series.

Thursday, July 17, 7-10 PM
Kurt Ribak Trio - Original Jazz
Mr. Tipple's Recording Studio
https://mrtipplessf.com
39 Fell St, San Francisco, CA 94102, United States
All ages

I'll be playing with the Usual Suspects - Greg and Lincoln - at Mr. Tipple's. I've played here a few times - it's really developed a reputation as a nice room for jazz. You can learn more about the place here - https://mrtipplessf.com/faqs/

It's a nicely appointed lounge which serves dim sum as well as an impressive cocktail menu - check it out here - https://mrtipplessf.com/wp-content/uploads/Tipples-Menu.pdf. Because it serves food it's an all-ages venue, although it's not suited to young kids. They have a nice piano there, so we will be a trio of piano, sax, bass, and some vocals.

Mr. Tipple's is committed to paying the musicians and staff decently. They include a 21% surcharge to the bill, which is distributed too all hourly employees on shift. This eliminates the need for tipping.

Kurt Ribak Trio - Original Jazz
Friday, July 18, 7 PM to 9 PM
regular gig - third Friday of every month
Roxx on Main - California Cuisine - INDOOR SHOW
https://www.roxxonmain.com
https://www.roxxonmain.comhttps://www.roxxonmain.com

My band returns to Roxx on Main in Martinez. We'll be INDOORS. It's a small restaurant and fills quickly, so make reservations. on keyboards, on sax, Kurt on bass and vocals.Greg SankovichLincoln Adler

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videos - we have a YouTube Channel

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PRESS

Links to two articles about the Vallejo show back in January 2020:

Fairfield Daily Republic article

Vallejo Times-Herald Article

KCSM Announcer Chris Cortez
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."
SFJAZZ

Some nice press about us from SFJAZZ:

“Joyous,” “grooving,” “bluesy,” “sophisticated,” and “masterful” could all be accurately used to describe bassist and composer Kurt Ribak’s music, but perhaps an assessment is best left to the man himself, who calls his rollicking mix of bebop sophistication and body-moving grooves “Charles Mingus meets The Meters.” Ribak brings his superb working quartet, performing music from their most recent album Onward.

BLOG

You can see my blog post at SFJAZZ about my injury and recovery here - https://www.sfjazz.org/onthecorner/kurt-ribak-interview/

PODCAST

Kurt was interviewed by Bandleader / singer/songwriter / guitarist George Cole for his Hot Jazz Network podcast - you can find the podcast on Spotify, Amazon, Podtail, Apple Podcasts, and elsewhere.

STREAMING AUDIO

Just want to hear some audio of us? We are on Spotify, and you can also hear us here.

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Kurt Ribak

(pronounced REE-bok, like the shoes)

gigs and other stuff

NEW RECORD