Ravi Abcarian

Executive Director / Bass

Bay Area based composer and jazz bassist, Ravi Abcarian, started learning guitar at the age of seven and began playing bass when his high school jazz band director challenged him to switch from electric guitar to upright bass.

Ravi went on to join the house band for a weekly jam session at famed jazz venue, Yoshi’s Oakland. There, he met and began working with many of the Bay Area’s great musicians, including Faye Carol, Edwin Kelly, and Smiley Winters. By his mid-twenties he was performing in clubs, cafés, and jazz festivals throughout the region. On bass, Ravi has accompanied artists ranging from legendary tap dancer Fayard Nicholas (of the Nicholas Brothers) and vocal group Sweet Honey in the Rock, to tenor saxophonists Chico Freeman, Joshua Redman, and Sonny Simmons.

Ravi has extensive experience within the nonprofit arts arena through his former role as the Artistic Director of “The Richmond Jazz Collective,” a resident company at The East Bay Center for Performing Arts (EBCPA) where he taught from 1993 to 2013, successfully re-oriented the jazz program toward youth, and developed and launched the first EBCPA Jazz Summer Day Camp. Ravi has also implemented music curricula in both public and private schools for grades K through 12 and has worked for the San Francisco Symphony’s Adventures In Music Program.

In 1997 Ravi was asked to join OJW as the bass teacher by Founding Director, Khalil Shaheed. Shortly after, Ravi was promoted to the position of Educational Director. In 2011, he was appointed Executive Director of OJW by Mr. Shaheed and the OJW Board of Directors. As Executive Director, Ravi works directly with the young musicians of OJW in weekly classes and workshops, and collaborates with the board and staff to develop new ways to strengthen the organization.