Kobi Yakob Arad (; born: October 2, 1981) is an Israeli-born American jazz pianist, composer, and music producer. He is known for being the pianist, vocalist, and bandleader of the Kobi Arad Band. He has won a Hollywood Music in Media (HMMA) Award and an Independent Music Award, both for his work as a solo artist and as part of the Kobi Arad Band. In 2024, he was nominated for a Hollywood Independent Music Award. He has collaborated with artists such as

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

, Cindy and

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of the Rock music, rock band Santana (band), Santana. Born and raised in Mexico where he developed his musical background, he r ...

Jack DeJohnette Jack DeJohnette (born August 9, 1942) is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer. Known for his extensive work as leader and sideman for musicians including Charles Lloyd (jazz musician), Charles Lloyd, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett, B ...

, and

Roy Ayers Roy Edward Ayers Jr. (September 10, 1940 – March 4, 2025) was an American vibraphonist, record producer, and composer. Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several studio albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure ...

Early life and education

Arad was born on October 2, 1981 and raised in

Haifa, Israel Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area in Israel. It is home to t ...

. He earned his bachelor's degree at

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...

and became the first musician to earn a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

contemporary improvisation Musical improvisation (also known as musical extemporization) is the creative activity of immediate ("in the moment") musical composition, which combines performance with communication of emotions and instrumental technique as well as spontaneous ...

and

third stream Third stream is a music genre that is a fusion of jazz and classical music. The term was coined in 1957 by composer Gunther Schuller in a lecture at Brandeis University. There are many ways to define third-stream music. It could refer to a group ...

from the

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. The conservatory is located on Huntington Avenue along Avenue of the Arts (Boston), the Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Ha ...

Career

While living in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, Arad participated as a keyboardist in a trio with

Asaf Sirkis Asaf Sirkis (; born 1969) is an Israeli jazz drummer, composer and educator. He is a member of the jazz rock band Soft Machine. Early life Sirkis spent his teens and early twenties in Rehovot, Israel where he began drum lessons aged 12. His ear ...

and Gabriel Mayer in the 1990s. Arad also collaborated with

and his manager Stephanie Andrews at the

Berklee Performance Center The Berklee Performance Center is a 1,215-seat theatre located on Massachusetts Avenue in the Back Bay area of Boston, Massachusetts.Hazell, Ed, ''Berklee: The First 50 Years'' (Berklee Press Publications, 1995), p.155 It is the largest theatre sp ...

in 2005. Arad released his album ''Sparks of Understanding'' in 2009, which featured an appearance from drummer Bob Moses. Arad collaborated with recording engineer

Robert Margouleff Robert Margouleff is an American record producer, recording engineer, electronic music pioneer, audio expert, and film producer. Career The Birth of TONTO Margouleff was an early customer, friend and collaborator of fellow New Yorker and music ins ...

on The Experience Project in 2015. In 2015, he also released the albums ''Webern Re-Visioned'', which consisted of re-imaginings of works by

Anton Webern Anton Webern (; 3 December 1883 – 15 September 1945) was an Austrian composer, conductor, and musicologist. His music was among the most radical of its milieu in its lyric poetry, lyrical, poetic concision and use of then novel atonality, aton ...

, and ''Superflow'', which is a collaboration with

, featuring bassist Jonathan Levy. He also recorded Ellington Upside Down, a

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

tribute CD, with the Kobi Arad Band. The album’s mashup of “Take the ‘A’ Train” and “It Ain’t Mean a Thing” was nominated for Best Jazz Instrumental at the 17th Independent Music Awards (2019). Arad’s album Segments went on to win Best Jazz Instrumental in the album category at the same event. At the 2021 Hollywood Music in Media (HMMA) Awards, Arad won the Independent Music Artist award in Best Jazz for his performance of “Bemsha Swing” by Thelonious Monk. On June 12th 2024 Arad was nominated for the second time for the

Hollywood Independent Music Awards The Hollywood Independent Music Awards (HIMA) is an awards organization that honors independent artists, composers, songwriters, record labels, and studio recording professionals for their creative contributions to independent music. The independ ...

with 'Fields' for Best Jazz Fusion (Best piano solo / collab). This nomination features

Victor Wooten Victor Lemonte Wooten (born September 11, 1964) is an American bassist, songwriter, and record producer. He has been the bassist for Béla Fleck and the Flecktones since the group's formation in 1988 and a member of the band SMV with two other ...

Cindy Blackman Santana Cindy Blackman (born November 18, 1959), known as Cindy Blackman Santana since she married guitarist Carlos Santana in 2010, is an American jazz and rock drummer performing since the 80s. Blackman has recorded several jazz albums as a bandleader ...

Ricky Kej Ram Gyan "Ricky" Kej (born 5 August 1981) is an Indian music composer, environmentalist, a three-time Grammy Awards, Grammy Award winner and a four-time Grammy Awards, Grammy nominee. Kej was conferred with a Padma Shri, Padma Shri award in 20 ...

& Lonnie Park.

Discography (selected)

Albums

* ''Sparks of Understanding'' (2009) * ''Ancient Novice'' (2009) * ''Inner Hymns'' (2012) * ''The Experience Project'' (2015) * ''Webern Re-Visioned'' (2015) * ''Superflow'' (2015) * ''Cubism - Hyper-Dimensional Jazz'' (2016) * ''Flux - A Song Cycle for Solo Fender Rhodes'' (2017) * ''Ellington Upside Down'' (2017) * ''Segments'' (2018) * ''Intonations'' (2019) * ''Sketches of Monk'' (2020) * ''Warping'' (2024)

Awards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arad, Kobi 1981 births Living people American jazz pianists Israeli emigrants to the United States Jewish American composers Jewish jazz musicians Jazz arrangers American jazz bandleaders American jazz composers American jazz keyboardists Israeli jazz pianists Jewish Israeli composers Musicians from Haifa Tel Aviv University alumni New England Conservatory alumni