Ari Hest (born 16 June 1979) is an American singer-songwriter from the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

borough of New York.

Biography

Early life and education

Hest's father is a college music professor and his mother a cantor. His older brother, Danny, is Hest's former manager. Hest took

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...

lessons as a child and later taught himself to play guitar. Hest attended

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to ...

in Ithaca, NY beginning in 1999 and later transferred to

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, ...

, where he received a degree in Communications in 2002.

Career

Hest released an EP, ''Incomplete'' and two albums, ''Come Home'' and ''Story After Story'' all independently as he grew his fan base touring colleges and universities around the U.S. In March 2004, Hest signed a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

with

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...

and recorded the album ''Someone To Tell'' and a five-song EP "Guilty Hearts EP" in the fall of 2005. His next EP was called ''The Green Room Sessions'', a home spun recording entirely played and produced on his own. Shortly after releasing that, he worked with producer

Mitchell Froom Mitchell Froom (born June 29, 1953) is an American musician and record producer. He was a member of the bands Gamma and Latin Playboys, and is currently the keyboardist for Crowded House. He has produced albums for several artists, including ...

on "The Break-In", which was his last release on Columbia. As an independent artist once again in 2008, Hest created ''52'', a subscription based service in which he wrote, recorded and released a new song every week for a year. In 2009, he released ''Twelve Mondays'', a collection of 12 fan-selected songs from those 52, remixed. Between 2011 and 2014, Hest released three more albums - ''Sunset Over Hope Street'' (2011), ''The Fire Plays'' (2012) and ''Shouts and Whispers'' (2014). Several songs from these albums have appeared in films and TV shows. In 2016, Ari co-wrote a number of songs with

Judy Collins Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning seven decades. An Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Award-winning recording artist, she is known for her ...

, and the two released an album of duets June 3 entitled '' Silver Skies Blue'', after two years of on-and-off touring together. The album earned Hest his first

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

nomination (it was Collins' first nomination in 40 years). ''Silver Skies Blue'' was nominated for Best Folk Album at the

59th Annual Grammy Awards The 59th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on February 12, 2017. The CBS network broadcast the show live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The ceremony recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, ...

in 2017 but lost to Undercurrent by Sarah Jarosz. This is not Hest's first collaboration - he has two other projects: The Open Sea with Rosi Golan, and more recently, the Brazilian guitar inspired Bluebirds of Paradise with Chrissi Poland.

Discography

* ''Incomplete'' (EP, 1999), Project 4 * ''Come Home'' (2001), Project 4 * ''Story After Story'' (2002). Project 4 * ''Someone to Tell'' (2004), Columbia * ''Guilty Hearts'' (EP, 2005), Columbia * ''The Green Room Sessions'' (EP, 2006), Columbia * ''I've Got You'' (Download only single, 2007), Columbia/Red Ink * ''The Break-In'' (2007), Columbia/Red Ink * ''Live at the Quick Center'' (EP, 2008), Project 4 * ''52'' (2008), Project 4 * ''Twelve Mondays'' (2009), Project 4 * ''Sunset Over Hope Street'' (2011), Downtown * ''The Fire Plays'' (2012), Project 4 * ''Shouts and Whispers'' (2014), Project 4 * '' Silver Skies Blue'' with

(2016), Cleopatra * ''Natural'' (2017), Ari Hest * ''Against The Sky'' (2020), Ari Hest

Soundtrack and other albums

* ''Consistency'', Live from the Village Underground (2002), Project 4, included with first 1,000 copies of “Story After Story” * ''Winter Break: The Movie Soundtrack'' (2003), Various Artists, with “Strangers Again” from Ari Hest * ''DecentXposure: Volume One'' (2003). Various Artists, with "Consistency" from Ari Hest * ''The Lincoln Lawyer'' soundtrack (2011) Various Artists, with "Now" from Ari Hest * The Open Sea (with Rosi Golan), "Little Apple" EP (2010)

References

External links

Official website

Biography at Star Pulse

Live Music Archive

Interview at Stereo Subversion

Interview with Sound Bites Dog E-Zine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hest, Ari 1979 births American male singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from New York (state) Cornell University alumni Living people Horace Mann School alumni New York University alumni People from the Bronx 21st-century American singers 21st-century American male singers