Anthony Mills first learned to play alto saxophone from Mr. Cason at Thurgood Marshall Elementary School in Oakland, CA at the age of 8 and continued music when he moved on to Westlake Middle School where Mr. Porter encouraged him to play baritone, tenor and soprano sax with the school band.  At this time Anthony also began to teach himself bass guitar at home.

At age 14 Anthony became involved in the after school music program at Allen Temple Baptist Church where he was a member and it was at their summer music program that he first met Oaktown Jazz Workshops’ Founding Director, Khalil Shaheed.  Later that year Oaktown Jazz Workshops performed at the retirement party for Allen Temple’s Minister of Music and Performing Arts, Betty Gadling.  Anthony performed with Oaktown Jazz Workshops that night and afterwards, Educational Director, Ravi Abcarian invited him to become a regular member of the group.

Soon Anthony was performing at dozens of community events with OJW and by his senior year in high school he was playing baritone, alto, soprano sax as well as bass guitar and upright bass with the group!

Anthony graduated from Oakland Technical High School in 2013 and is now attending Laney College.  He continues to perform music and works at Oakland High School with his former High School Band Director, Mr. Byrd, as a sectional leader and regularly mentors young musicians at Oaktown Jazz Workshops.  When asked about Oaktown Jazz Workshops, Anthony replied, “Best experience I ever had.”

December 12^th, 2012

Dear Friend of Oaktown Jazz Workshops,

2012 has been an eventful year for OJW, filled with activity, growth and change, marked especially by the passing of Oaktown Jazz Workshops founder, Khalil Shaheed, in March.  The Board of Directors, faculty, and I are working hard to grow his vision.  We appreciate your past support and want to keep you up to date about our recent and upcoming happenings.

Oaktown Jazz Workshops’ year round, twice weekly workshops are going strong at our new location in Jack London Square.  Our young musicians have performed for over 10,000 people this year at events such as Oakland’s Art & Soul Festival, The Oakland East Bay Symphony’s Independence Day Celebration, and Yoshi’s Jazz Festival.  Many of OJW’s Alumni serve as guest instructors at our workshops and in June, a septet of Alumni came together to perform at our benefit concert in honor of Khalil Shaheed.

We continue to engage in collaborative community events such as our upcoming performance with The Children’s Community Choir on January 19^th at The Paramount Theater for the Living Jazz annual musical tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and our work with Music in the Schools Today to bring live jazz presentations to the public schools of West Oakland.  We have also formed a new partnership with Berkeley Unified School District that brings OJW instructors to middle school jazz bands to work as clinicians.

It has always been through the generosity of friends like you that we remain such a healthy and vibrant organization.  At this time, we are pleased to announce that in honor of our founding director’s vision we are launching the Khalil Shaheed Scholarship Fund to cover the cost of our weekly, intensive workshops for young musicians who could not otherwise afford tuition.  We now ask for your contribution in whatever amount you can manage.  A donation to OJW goes directly to jazz performance education for young people who value it, taught by a small group of instructors dedicated to helping the kids develop their talents.   Your support of Oaktown Jazz Workshops encourages our children’s creativity, elevates music education and appreciation, and enriches our diverse community.

Sincerely,

Ravi Abcarian
Executive Director

Donate to Oaktown Jazz Workshops’ Khalil Shaheed Scholarship Fund

Trumpeter Khalil Shaheed passed away on Friday March 23, 2012 at the age of 63 with a trajectory as a musical artist that spanned four decades. Stints included working with Buddy Miles, Woody Shaw, and other notables. His arrival in the San Francisco Bay Area blessed us with a musical visionary who found ways to explore and expand what jazz could be in the new millennium.

Driven by his spiritual mission and musical vision, Khalil founded the Oaktown Jazz Workshops in 1994 and created a launching pad for a long list of now world class jazz artists and educators. The establishment of a home for Oaktown Jazz Workshops with the creation of Nadine’s Concert Hall in Jack London Square was a dream come true.

Now, OJW’s longtime Educational Director, Ravi Abcarian has assumed the reins as Executive Director and is committed to keep the program and Khalil’s vision alive. So to that end we gather at Yoshi’s Oakland in a fundraising benefit for OJW to keep the flame lit for the next generation of young jazz musicians.

Join Ravi Abcarian, Chuy Varela and other members of the OJW Board of Directors for a great night of Oaktown Jazz with the 2012 Oaktown Jazz Workshops Performance Ensemble, OJW Alumni Band, and the 57th Street Gallery All Stars, led by Calvin Keys. Special guests include jazz great John Handy.

Buy Tickets Now!!

Jen White, East Bay Express

There is certainly no shortage of shuttered storefronts in Oakland, but as of July 1, the city will be able to boast one less boarded-up building and one more desperately needed community arts center. The former Tony Roma’s restaurant, the spacious spot at 55 Washington in Jack London Square has been granted by the Port of Oakland to local jazz trumpeter Khalil Shaheed to house Oaktown Jazz Workshops (OJW), the musical education project he has helmed for the past seventeen years. Both Port Director Omar Benjamin and Mayor Jean Quan strongly encouraged the move.

Now with a permanent place of residence, OJW can expand into summer programming and performances as well as practice sessions without the interruptions typical of after-school hours at the Dimond Recreation Center or Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts. Shaheed will also be able to safely store the jazz library, pianos, bass amps, and countless other instruments and equipment OJW has acquired over the years. The building has tentatively been titled Nadine’s. The performance stage remains under construction.

Until now, the public centers have sufficed but have tended to limit OJW’S meetings to twice weekly. Anywhere from two to twenty young musicians come to practice with Shaheed in the evenings, jamming and studying, practicing and even recording (the group’s third album is in the works for this summer). Kids usually come to OJW after they have begun learning an instrument in school and are ready for a more intensive way to practice and improve.

“We know it’s important to nurture passionate young musicians,” Shaheed said, “and I think that practicing with full-time musicians makes it real for them.” Among the list of full-timers are OJW director of education and stand-up bassist Ravi Abcarian and drummer Jack Dorsey. “The workshops make learning very accessible and jazz definitely helps to keep learning playful, too.”

Whatever the workshops do, it is obviously working. So says Oakland City Councilwoman and long-time OJW supporter Desley Brooks. “When you see Khalil’s students perform, it’s not as though you’re watching a bunch of young people at a recital — you’re watching professionals,” Brooks said. “Not everyone is a performer, but Oaktown gives kids real confidence and presence so that they can play with anyone and really pursue their passion.”

What’s good for the kids may be good for Oakland. Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan, eager to create a safe, fun environment downtown, pointed out how convenient it will be for students to hop on the free B shuttle on Broadway to get to Jack London Square. And if that doesn’t lure them, there’s always the Ben & Jerry’s next door.

At a recent OJW session, thirteen-year-old flautist Maureen Sides explained how the four years that she has been studying with Shaheed and Abcarian are the reason she can understand music theory and jazz music as a whole. Now she regularly listens to KCSM 91.1 and eagerly accompanied her parents to a jazz festival last month. “The workshops help so much because there are lots of older kids around and everyone is teaching each other.” Sides said. “If I don’t get something right away I feel really comfortable asking for help.”

When students head home from OJW, they have practice exercises and jazz reports. Both Shaheed and Abcarian emphasize the importance of jazz history for their students. “We ask them for written reports that they share with the group,” Abcarian explained, “and they come back excited. They seem to like it, which is weird!”

Sides said she also gets to meet and play with Oaktown alumni like Ambrose Akinmusire and Kaz George from time to time, which is a bonus. Akinmusire, who released an album on New York’s Blue Note label this year, plans to teach and be involved in the development department of OJW when he returns to Oakland.

In light of all the effort put into OJW, Khalil is overjoyed about the new building. “Seventeen years!” he joked. “It’s about time!” He also said that it was “just the right time for such a generous gesture from the city to the arts community, considering the current political and economic climate of cutbacks and all that.”

Shaheed has been living and breathing jazz music since the Sixties, playing and performing with legends like Buddy Miles and Taj Mahal. His career and his cucumber-cool disposition blur the line between work and play just as much as the workshops do for his students.

To blur that line even further, there’s an additional perk to accompany the new location — after-hours jam sessions. Kids just want a place to play. It’s as simple as that.

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