Kobi Arad

Kobi Arad

Kobi Arad, (center) Brent Fischer and Mickey Stevenson, Los Angeles, 2016
Background information
Origin Haifa, Israel
Genres Third stream, nu-jazz, classical music, world music, jazz fusion, klezmer
Occupation(s) Pianist, composer, arranger, record producer
Instruments Piano, keyboards
Years active 2010–present
Labels Greenpath Musical Productions
Associated acts Stevie Wonder, Roy Ayers, Robert Margouleff, Asaf Sirkis, Bob Moses, Oran Etkin,
Website KobiAradBand.com
Notable instruments
Piano

Kobi Arad is an Israeli-American pianist and contemporary music composer.[1] Currently based in New York City,[1] he composes, arranges, and performs music blending genres as diverse as third stream, classical, jazz, R&B, hip-hop, and electronic music, with much of his work utilitizing improvisation.[2] His music has been featured in publications such as Ynet,[2] the Jazz Times,[3] and All About Jazz,[4] the latter of which called his 2011 album Sketches of Imaginary Landscapes an "all-embracing portraiture of an artist" with "exceptional technical faculties and perspicacious vision."[4] Arad has collaborated with artists such as Stevie Wonder and Cindy Blackman.[2] He has also performed his material with the Kobi Arad Band at venues such as the Blue Note in New York,[5] and has transcribed music for the publishing arms of companies such as Hal Leonard.[6]

Early life and education

Kobi Arad was born and raised in Haifa, Israel with his family. Music was a part of Arad's life from a young age, and he studied piano in his youth.[2] While learning classical music as an undergraduate at the University of Tel Aviv,[2] he was introduced to jazz fusion by a professor, and began experimenting with the genre.[2] At the time Arad also served as a music arranger for military bands.[2] While in Israel, Arad played keyboards as part of a trio with Asaf Sirkis and Gabriel Mayer in the mid-1990s. Arad studied for his master's degree and Ph.D. at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston,[2] receiving a doctorate in the field of "third stream" and contemporary improvisation.[1] After graduating with his master's, Arad moved to Williamsburg, New York.[2]

Music career

Early releases and projects

Stevie Wonder and Kobi Arad

Arad became active in the New York music scene in 2007.[7] As of 2009, he was performing at local New York cultural events, for example regularly appearing at the Chabad House in New York.[7] Drummer Bob Moses appeared in his 2009 album Sparks of Understanding,[8] and in 2010 Arad released his Ancient Novice album, which received a positive review from the Jazz Times. Opined the Jazz Times, the album "engages into different colors and landscapes, which create an exhilarating atmosphere in the listener's mind." Accompanying Arad on the recording are five string players from the Boston Symphony Orchestra.[3]

He released his album Sketches of Imaginary Landscapes in 2011, which was positively reviewed in All About Jazz.[4] The review claimed that the album "professes a colorific mosaic and all-embracing portraiture of an artist who transmits an active imagination, supported by his exceptional technical faculties and perspicacious vision."[4] Arad was joined in the recording by Ray McNaught on drums and Tucker Yaro on bass.[4] In early 2012 Arad debuted his project Inner Hymns, which collected and adapted ancient Hasidic songs.[2] Among other guest musicians, the recording featured artists such as Oran Etkin.[9] In January 2012, Arad performed Inner Hymns with a trio at the Blue Note venue in New York.[2] His third appearance at the venue, he was accompanied by Ramon De-bruyn on bass and Ray McNaught on drums.[5] Arad and Inner Hymns were featured in the major Israeli publication Ynet in January 2012.[2]

Recent works

Kobi Arad at piano

After first holding a residency at the Art Kibbutz[10] on Governors Island[11] in 2013,[10] Arad began recording a collaboration with Pakistani sitar player Ikhlaq Hussein Khan.[10] While an artist in residence, he also worked on a 12-tone music system and collaborated on a sound improvisation project with several other artists.[12] In May 2013, he described his goal at the Art Kibbutz as striving to "pave the way to a deeper connection of music and art and religion, the way it was historically with the Levites at the temple.”[1] In August 2014, he was included in the Jewish Waltz with Planet Earth art exhibit by Art Kibbutz put on at New York’s Governors Island.[13]

He also collaborated on The Experience Project with Robert Margouleff in June 2015, and his 2015 album Superflow included Roy Ayers on vibraphone, as well as Jonathan Levy on bass.[14] In August 2015, Arad performed an experimental jazz composition[15] at the Shmita Art Fest[11] at the Art Kibbutz.[15] In January 2016, he performed with jazz vocalist Daphna Levi in Tel Aviv.[16] In recent years he has performed his compositions with the Kobi Arad Band, which has played at venues such as Blue Note,[2] Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Knitting Factory, Tonic, and the Cutting Room.[17][7] Arad has collaborated with artists such as Stevie Wonder, Lenny Kravitz, and Cindy Blackman.[2] He has transcribed music for the publishing arm of Hal Leonard,[6] and as of 2016, he has approximately twenty self-released albums.[17]

Style and influences

Arad composes, arranges, and performs music blending genres as diverse as third stream, classical, jazz, R&B, hip-hop, and electronic music, with much of his work utilitizing improvisation.[2] Some of his compositions rely on string players to support his improvisation on piano.[3] All About Jazz calls Arad's style of music "on the fringes of jazz-fusion," at times toggling between acoustic and electric keyboards.[4]

Discography

Albums

The following is an incomplete list of albums by Kobi Arad:

Publishing history

The following books were written or co-written by Kobi Arad:

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Levis, Tajlei (May 21, 2013). "For Jewish Artists, A Space Of One's Own". The Jewish Week. Retrieved 2016-06-04.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Averbuch, Shira (January 2, 2012). "Inner Hymns". Ynet. Retrieved 2016-05-17.
  3. 1 2 3 "Kobi Arad's 'Ancient Novice' - An harmonic and textural Rarity". Jazz Times. January 2010. Retrieved 2016-05-17.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Astarita, Glenn (August 26, 2011). "Kobi Arad Band: Sketches of Imaginary Landscapes". All About Jazz. Retrieved 2016-05-17.
  5. 1 2 "Israel's Kobi Arad Band – Live Jazz at the Blue Note NYC on Jan. 29". The Jewish Voice. January 23, 2012. Retrieved 2016-05-17.
  6. 1 2 "The Dizzy Gillespie collection". York University - Library Catalogue. Retrieved 2016-06-04.
  7. 1 2 3 "Dr. Kobi Arad". chabadofnorthbrooklyn.com. 2009. Retrieved 2016-05-17.
  8. ↑ "Sparks of Understanding". Kobi Arad - Amazon. May 26, 2009. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
  9. ↑ Arad, Kobi (August 29, 2012). "Inner Hymns - Creative Exploration of Traditional Jewish Hymns". Amazon. Retrieved 2016-06-04.
  10. 1 2 3 Eszter Margit, Patricia. "Art Kibbutz's first residency". Jewish Art Salon. Retrieved 2016-05-17.
  11. 1 2 Rubensteen, Aimee (August 6, 2015). "Art Grows On Governors Island". NY Blueprint. Retrieved 2016-05-17.
  12. ↑ Schischa, Rebecca (May 17, 2013). "Art Kibbutz Bears First Fruits". The Forward. Retrieved 2016-06-04.
  13. ↑ "Art Kibbutz NY "The Jewish Waltz with Planet Earth" at FIGMENT Festival 2014". Jewish Art Now. August 2014. Retrieved 2016-06-04.
  14. ↑ "Superflow - Featuring Roy Ayers". Kobi Arad. August 16, 2015. Retrieved 2016-05-17.
  15. 1 2 Harris, Caroline (August 11, 2015). "An Island Of Creativity". The Jewish Week. Retrieved 2016-05-17.
  16. ↑ Davis, Barry (January 17, 2016). "Daphna Levy's musical journey into the night". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2016-06-04.
  17. 1 2 "About". kobiaradband.com. Retrieved 2016-05-17.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kobi Arad.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/27/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.