About
Virgin Islands native Tabari Lake is a freelance bassist, composer, and educator. A product of the Virgin Islands public school system, he began his musical journey on the steel drums and continued on to play the clarinet, tuba, and electric bass. During the summers of 2010 and 2011, Tabari attended the Interlochen Arts Camp where he began his formal study of the upright bass with world-renowned jazz bassist Rodney Whitaker. Tabari then received a scholarship from Interlochen to further his studies in classical music and jazz. He graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy in the spring 2012.
In the fall of 2012, Tabari received the Presidential Scholarship, a full tuition award, to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. While there, he studied with instructors including, Tia Fuller(Bandleader & Former Saxophonist with Beyonce), Ralph Peterson Jr.(Bandleader & Drummer), Terence Blanchard(Trumpeter, Bandleader & Film Composer), Livingston Taylor(Singer Songwriter), Paul Pacifico(CEO of Association of Independent Music(UK)) and many others. He graduated with his B.M. in Contemporary Writing and Production in 2016. He then went on to obtain his M.M. in Contemporary Performance (Production Concentration) at Berklee’s satellite campus in Valencia, Spain.
In 2018, Tabari relocated to Los Angeles, California, to pursue a career as a freelance musician. As a bassist, he has performed, recorded, and toured with artists including Dee Dee Bridgewater, Terence Blanchard, Pharoah Sanders, Tia Fuller, Sting, Russell Gunn, Snoop Dogg, Aubrey Logan, Joey Alexander, John Beasley, Dave Koz, Eric “ELEW” Lewis, Dion Parson, Rashawn Ross, Theo Croker, Ron Blake, Victor Provost, the Puerto Rico Symphony and many others. As a composer, Tabari was selected as the 2019 Santa Monica 18th Street Art Center’s Make Jazz Fellow. He was also nominated for the 2020 US Artists Fellowship. As an educator, Tabari teaches bass privately and does clinics both nationally and internationally. Tabari has also served as full-time faculty at the University of the Virgin Islands.