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Amir-John Haddad was born in Freiburg, Germany, in 1975 with a Colombian and Palestinian background. He was raised and educated in Germany and lived for a short while in Bogotá (Colombia). Since childhood, he hasn't stopped traveling and has always been in contact with music. His family environment taught him how to play music by ear. He learned music, his future language, by oral transmission and was only 8 years old when he officially started studying the Flamenco guitar after learning Arabic oud at home by the hand of his father and first teacher, Rimon Haddad.
Amir started playing live at school venues when he was 7 years old, and by the age of 12, he gave his first public concert on a "real" stage. From a very small age, Amir was led to diverse music styles from South American folklore to classical music, classical Arabic and Oriental music, over to African music, Flamenco music... as well as western influences like Jazz, Rock, Funk, Pop, Metal, Fusion... "When I was seven years old, our TV quit working, and my parents didn't replace it, so from that moment on, I was raised without TV at home, and that was very important to my playing and my innocent and creative approach to music!"
Years later, in 1997, Amir decided to move further south to live and study guitar in one of the most important birthplaces of Flamenco, Jerez de la Frontera (Andalucía-Spain). As he says: "I left Germany with my guitar and a suitcase full of illusions & expectations! I wanted to learn this art form the traditional way by oral transmission in the streets, meeting the artists, and making my experiences through living with the people and sharing many moments of 'juerga' (Flamenco jam all night long)!" During his period in Andalucía, he was a disciple of famous guitar maestros like Pepe Justicia and Enrique de Melchor. This experience was going to be very important for his career.
In 1998, Amir moved on to Madrid to find new frontiers and keep on growing professionally as a musician and find a place in the music scene, "I wanted to make a living out of what I liked the most! I couldn't imagine myself in the future without playing my instrument!" He played in famous Flamenco Tablaos such as Las Carboneras, Café de Chinitas, Corral de la Pacheca, Casa Patas, etc.
It was in Madrid when Amir was invited to join and play with the legendary and famous Spanish World Music Band Radio Tarifa. Amir was the official oud, bouzouki, and guitar player for almost ten years and made many world tours through a large number of countries and cities. In 1999, he won the first prize for original musical composition at the national "Certamen de Coreografía de Danza Española y Flamenco" at the Teatro Albeniz in Madrid.
Since then, he had the opportunity to work, record, and tour with various artists like: Chambao, Radio Tarifa, Juno Reactor, Joaquín Ruiz, Maestro Ciro, Eliseo Parra, Jorge Pardo, Carles Benavent, Tomasito, Navajita Plateá, Raimundo Amador, Miguel Flores Quirós "El Capullo de Jerez", Melendi, Inmaculada Ortega, Pepe Justicia, Belen Fernandez, Carmela Greco, Jose Luis Monton, Enrique de Melchor, Juan Parrilla, David Cereduela, Antonio Canales, Antonio Carrion, David Serva, Eva Durán, Peter Oteo, Alejandro Granados, Talegon de Cordoba, Juan Ogalla, Domingo Ortega, Olga Pericet, Carmina Cortes, Salva de Maria, Manuel Liñan, Marcos Flores, Manuel Palacin, Carmen Fernandez, Tino di Geraldo, Joaquín Escudero, Manuel de la Malena, Luís de la Tota, Alfonso Losa, Jose Antonio Galicia "El Gali", Teresa Nieto, Yrvis Mendez Raymond, Aziz Kuyateh, Evgeny Pimonenko, Geovany da Silveira, Cristian Miño, Tom Schlüter, Alejandra Gutty, Eduardo Dorda, Manuel de Lucena, Sebastián Rubio, Susana Weich Shahak, Maher Sissoko, Jesus Torres, Jesus de Rosario, Toni Maya, Los Losada, Rocio Molina, Imran Khan, Leonor Moro, Ricardo Espinosa, El Jaleo, Rafael de Huelva, Mariano Martin, Prashant Shah, Murad Ali, Isabel Montero, Guadiana, Finn Martin, Kaushik Basu, Rafael Jiménez "El Falo", José Menese, Lole Montoya, Rafael Amargo, Gerardo Nuñez, Javier Paxariño, Naseer Shamma, Canal +, just to mention some of them.
Amir has toured countries like: England, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Holland, Greece, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Scotland, Poland, Israel, Turkey, Palestine, Egypt, Indonesia, India, Ireland, USA, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Morocco, Hungary, Russia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Austria, Canada, Denmark...
Amir has performed at venues like: -The Royal Festival Hall (London) – Barbican Centre (London) – Royal Albert Hall (London) – The Hot House (Chicago) – Town Hall (New York) – Luna Park (Los Angeles) – Teatro Campesino (San Juan Bautista, California) – Teatro Bellini (Palermo) – Palau de la música (Barcelona) – Cabaret Sauvage (Paris) – Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin) – Teatro Tivoli (Barcelona) – Zellerbach Hall (Berkeley) – Sala Apolo (Barcelona) – Sala Bikini (Barcelona) – BBC4 (London) – Salihara Festival (Jakarta) – Chapel Hill (London) – Roskilde Festival 1999 (Denmark) - Kulturhuset (Stockholm) – Jaipur Literature Festival – Jodhpur Fortress - Cosmopolite (Oslo) - NJPAC (New Jersey) – Emerson Majestic Theatre (Boston) – Dranouter Festival (Belgium) – Teatro Häagen Dazs (Madrid) – Teatro Albeniz (Madrid) – Festival (Bogotá) – Cumbre Tajin (Veracruz-Mexico) – Feria Internacional del Libro (Guadalajara-Mexico) - SESC (Sao Paolo) - Edinburgh Festival – Tomb of the Kings (Jerusalem) – Jazz Festival (Istanbul) – Conde Duque (Madrid) – Sziget Festival (Budapest) - A38 (Budapest), Fliegende Bauten (Hamburg), The Circus (Helsinki)… and many others.
He has recorded soundtracks for theatre plays, dance choreographies, publicity, TV documentaries, as well as on the albums Radio Tarifa "Fiebre" (2004) and Chambao (2012), which were nominated at the Latin Grammy Awards.
In 2006, he released his first solo album "Pasando por Tabernas" on German record label Double Moon Records Köln with eight original Flamenco tunes playing Arabic oud and flamenco guitar, and in 2013, he released his second flamenco guitar album called "9 Guitarras," a work full of sensitivity and maturity produced by Mundo Flamenco and Amir John Haddad.
Right now, he is producing the new debut album of Jose Salinas, an extraordinary flamenco singer from Almeria. He has toured worldwide with the most prestigious flamenco companies, performing in very important venues around the globe. Amir has done the entire production, musical composition, and arrangements. Superb flamenco compositions with Mediterranean, oriental, as well as South American flavor without losing flamenco tradition out of sight.
Amir applies his musical and cultural heritage in order to achieve a new sound, whether it's Flamenco, Rock, Oriental, Fusion, or any other type of music he tries to approach; he does it without losing the strong character and emotional sense of each music style.
His further interest in music has led him to play, besides the flamenco guitar, various instruments like: Bouzouki, Turkish saz, mandola, banjo, electric oud, electric guitar, and bass.
"Music keeps our spirit alive and makes us survive!"
"Big hug to all my friends and beautiful people around the globe that I was able to meet all these years and shared many wonderful moments of my life (on stage & off stage), you know who you are! Looking forward to some more!!!
Amir started playing live at school venues when he was 7 years old, and by the age of 12, he gave his first public concert on a "real" stage. From a very small age, Amir was led to diverse music styles from South American folklore to classical music, classical Arabic and Oriental music, over to African music, Flamenco music... as well as western influences like Jazz, Rock, Funk, Pop, Metal, Fusion... "When I was seven years old, our TV quit working, and my parents didn't replace it, so from that moment on, I was raised without TV at home, and that was very important to my playing and my innocent and creative approach to music!"
Years later, in 1997, Amir decided to move further south to live and study guitar in one of the most important birthplaces of Flamenco, Jerez de la Frontera (Andalucía-Spain). As he says: "I left Germany with my guitar and a suitcase full of illusions & expectations! I wanted to learn this art form the traditional way by oral transmission in the streets, meeting the artists, and making my experiences through living with the people and sharing many moments of 'juerga' (Flamenco jam all night long)!" During his period in Andalucía, he was a disciple of famous guitar maestros like Pepe Justicia and Enrique de Melchor. This experience was going to be very important for his career.
In 1998, Amir moved on to Madrid to find new frontiers and keep on growing professionally as a musician and find a place in the music scene, "I wanted to make a living out of what I liked the most! I couldn't imagine myself in the future without playing my instrument!" He played in famous Flamenco Tablaos such as Las Carboneras, Café de Chinitas, Corral de la Pacheca, Casa Patas, etc.
It was in Madrid when Amir was invited to join and play with the legendary and famous Spanish World Music Band Radio Tarifa. Amir was the official oud, bouzouki, and guitar player for almost ten years and made many world tours through a large number of countries and cities. In 1999, he won the first prize for original musical composition at the national "Certamen de Coreografía de Danza Española y Flamenco" at the Teatro Albeniz in Madrid.
Since then, he had the opportunity to work, record, and tour with various artists like: Chambao, Radio Tarifa, Juno Reactor, Joaquín Ruiz, Maestro Ciro, Eliseo Parra, Jorge Pardo, Carles Benavent, Tomasito, Navajita Plateá, Raimundo Amador, Miguel Flores Quirós "El Capullo de Jerez", Melendi, Inmaculada Ortega, Pepe Justicia, Belen Fernandez, Carmela Greco, Jose Luis Monton, Enrique de Melchor, Juan Parrilla, David Cereduela, Antonio Canales, Antonio Carrion, David Serva, Eva Durán, Peter Oteo, Alejandro Granados, Talegon de Cordoba, Juan Ogalla, Domingo Ortega, Olga Pericet, Carmina Cortes, Salva de Maria, Manuel Liñan, Marcos Flores, Manuel Palacin, Carmen Fernandez, Tino di Geraldo, Joaquín Escudero, Manuel de la Malena, Luís de la Tota, Alfonso Losa, Jose Antonio Galicia "El Gali", Teresa Nieto, Yrvis Mendez Raymond, Aziz Kuyateh, Evgeny Pimonenko, Geovany da Silveira, Cristian Miño, Tom Schlüter, Alejandra Gutty, Eduardo Dorda, Manuel de Lucena, Sebastián Rubio, Susana Weich Shahak, Maher Sissoko, Jesus Torres, Jesus de Rosario, Toni Maya, Los Losada, Rocio Molina, Imran Khan, Leonor Moro, Ricardo Espinosa, El Jaleo, Rafael de Huelva, Mariano Martin, Prashant Shah, Murad Ali, Isabel Montero, Guadiana, Finn Martin, Kaushik Basu, Rafael Jiménez "El Falo", José Menese, Lole Montoya, Rafael Amargo, Gerardo Nuñez, Javier Paxariño, Naseer Shamma, Canal +, just to mention some of them.
Amir has toured countries like: England, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Holland, Greece, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Scotland, Poland, Israel, Turkey, Palestine, Egypt, Indonesia, India, Ireland, USA, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Morocco, Hungary, Russia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Austria, Canada, Denmark...
Amir has performed at venues like: -The Royal Festival Hall (London) – Barbican Centre (London) – Royal Albert Hall (London) – The Hot House (Chicago) – Town Hall (New York) – Luna Park (Los Angeles) – Teatro Campesino (San Juan Bautista, California) – Teatro Bellini (Palermo) – Palau de la música (Barcelona) – Cabaret Sauvage (Paris) – Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin) – Teatro Tivoli (Barcelona) – Zellerbach Hall (Berkeley) – Sala Apolo (Barcelona) – Sala Bikini (Barcelona) – BBC4 (London) – Salihara Festival (Jakarta) – Chapel Hill (London) – Roskilde Festival 1999 (Denmark) - Kulturhuset (Stockholm) – Jaipur Literature Festival – Jodhpur Fortress - Cosmopolite (Oslo) - NJPAC (New Jersey) – Emerson Majestic Theatre (Boston) – Dranouter Festival (Belgium) – Teatro Häagen Dazs (Madrid) – Teatro Albeniz (Madrid) – Festival (Bogotá) – Cumbre Tajin (Veracruz-Mexico) – Feria Internacional del Libro (Guadalajara-Mexico) - SESC (Sao Paolo) - Edinburgh Festival – Tomb of the Kings (Jerusalem) – Jazz Festival (Istanbul) – Conde Duque (Madrid) – Sziget Festival (Budapest) - A38 (Budapest), Fliegende Bauten (Hamburg), The Circus (Helsinki)… and many others.
He has recorded soundtracks for theatre plays, dance choreographies, publicity, TV documentaries, as well as on the albums Radio Tarifa "Fiebre" (2004) and Chambao (2012), which were nominated at the Latin Grammy Awards.
In 2006, he released his first solo album "Pasando por Tabernas" on German record label Double Moon Records Köln with eight original Flamenco tunes playing Arabic oud and flamenco guitar, and in 2013, he released his second flamenco guitar album called "9 Guitarras," a work full of sensitivity and maturity produced by Mundo Flamenco and Amir John Haddad.
Right now, he is producing the new debut album of Jose Salinas, an extraordinary flamenco singer from Almeria. He has toured worldwide with the most prestigious flamenco companies, performing in very important venues around the globe. Amir has done the entire production, musical composition, and arrangements. Superb flamenco compositions with Mediterranean, oriental, as well as South American flavor without losing flamenco tradition out of sight.
Amir applies his musical and cultural heritage in order to achieve a new sound, whether it's Flamenco, Rock, Oriental, Fusion, or any other type of music he tries to approach; he does it without losing the strong character and emotional sense of each music style.
His further interest in music has led him to play, besides the flamenco guitar, various instruments like: Bouzouki, Turkish saz, mandola, banjo, electric oud, electric guitar, and bass.
"Music keeps our spirit alive and makes us survive!"
"Big hug to all my friends and beautiful people around the globe that I was able to meet all these years and shared many wonderful moments of my life (on stage & off stage), you know who you are! Looking forward to some more!!!
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