GITANO: A music album by Hamza released

Hamza, owner of Wind Horse Records has reached a milestone in his twentieth release as it is his first full-length album. Gitano is culmination of a prolific five years for the Indian producer with over a hundred recorded tracks and singles for the likes of legendary German label Kompakt and New York-based Deep House imprints King Street, Nite Grooves, and Open Bar Music.

Now in its fifth year, Wind Horse Records – the first house music label of India - continues to pioneer the deep and tech house movement in India with releases, parties, and ground-breaking collaborations.

Gitano emerges out of a feeling embodied in the many different sonic landscapes wandered in and out of across the ten track release, touching on Latin, Celtic, flamenco, funk, and jazz influences within its house music foundation – incorporating many cultural trademarks.

Hamza with his uplifting melodies, sparkling production, and warm bass lines aims to seamlessly merge floor-driving deep and tech-house styles with a reverent helping of global musical traditions.

The opener “Sky Song” features Celtic strings plucked in a way that somehow recalls the wilderness of the African motherland.  A soul satisfying bass line is magically mixed with wonderfully floated key stabs, pseudo-psychedelic guitar staccatos that wash from side to side, and a horn that sounds like it is straight out of New Orleans.

“Blue Groove” and “Ritmo Del Amor” have a very classic Latin-influenced New York house sound incorporating percussion, funky bass guitars with plenty of groove, energetic keys on a mission, quick flute accents, and vocals used as their own instruments. “Blue Groove” also features the contribution of Bista - a new studio collaborator with Hamza. “Tech Me to Havana” is exactly as the play on words in the title suggest and “New York 2 New Delhi” blends all this into a familiar epic of evolving bass, chugging stabs, highs soaring on sensory overload, and explosive build ups.

“Let The Music Play On” (featuring the vocals of the UK-based Loopy Juice), “Do It Right,” and “City Lights” bring to the forefront more funk and jazz elements across guitar riffs, claps, snares, cymbals, and vocals. With the help once again of the enigmatic Bista, “City Lights” shows Hamza’s ability to transform an unassuming track into a booming dance floor number full of tech energy. “Every Time the Bass Goes Down” is a funky affair but markedly different with its braggadocio vocals over the interplay of organ and distorted synth bass lines. It features another first for Hamza, as the vocals are his own, added as an experiment that successfully enhanced the tune.

The title track, “Gitano,” with its driving bells, crashing cymbals, remarkably deep bass, classic flamenco guitars, and traditional singing is a melting pot of South African melodies, Spanish finger work, and UK bass tied with an Indian voice.

Having developed many talented resources for export to the outside world, Wind Horse has recently been incorporating more remixers from the West, encouraging a two-way global relationship. Hamza has also been working to expose an Indian audience to the possibilities of house music through his Sunday Sundowner parties in New Delhi where he is joined by other artistes from the Wind Horse roster.

Hamza aims to take this party to other parts of India, incorporating homegrown talent, and inspiring a pan-Indian house music movement. More world tours will follow as Hamza further exposes his special mixture of house and world music to global dance floors.

Hailing from New Delhi and now working to strengthen his base here, Hamza has attained a reputation as one of the more innovative and exciting producers, apart from being a top-notch DJ. His diverse international sound is influenced from his strong musical background as well as growing up in India and traveling the world, living in Paris, Boston, and New York.