’‘’Amir John Haddad’’‘, known professionally as’‘’El Amir’’’ (born 1975 in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany), is a flamenco guitarist, composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist based in Spain since 1997. Of Palestinian and Colombian descent, his work spans flamenco, Mediterranean and roots music, world music, rock, classical crossover and film music.
For close to a decade he was a member of the Spanish group Radio Tarifa, playing guitar, oud and bouzouki. His participation on the album ‘’Fiebre’’ resulted in a nomination for the Latin Grammy Award for Best Folk Album in 2004. Since 2018 he has performed as a soloist in ’‘The World of Hans Zimmer’’ and has contributed to several film scores associated with Hans Zimmer, including ’‘No Time to Die’‘,’‘The Rhythm Section’‘,’‘The Boss Baby: Family Business’’ and ’‘Army of Thieves’’. Haddad has also developed a solo career, releasing ‘’Pasando por Tabernas’’ (2005), ‘’9 guitarras’’ (2013) and ‘’Andalucía’’ (2020), and has been involved with projects including Zoobazar and Juno Reactor. He received Silver Medal distinctions from the Global Music Awards in 2020 and 2026.
Background Haddad was born in Freiburg im Breisgau, West Germany (now Germany) in 1975, to a Colombian mother and a Palestinian father. He began learning the Arabic oud at home from his Palestinian father Rimon Haddad, and at the age of 8 he took up flamenco guitar and gave his first public performance at the age of 12. In 1997, at the age of 22, he moved to Jerez de la Frontera, one of the cultural homes of flamenco, to further his skills among the masters there, and moved to Madrid a year later. There he often performs in clubs such as Las Carboneras, Café de Chinitas, Corral de la Pacheca and Casa Patas. Haddad has performed worldwide and has played at such venues as the Royal Festival Hall, the Barbican Centre and the Royal Albert Hall in London, the HotHouse jazz club in Chicago, the Town Hall in New York, Luna Park in Los Angeles, the Teatro Bellini in Palermo, and the Palau de la música and Teatro Tivoli in Barcelona. He was the official oud, bouzouki and guitar player for Radio Tarifa for almost ten years and whilst there received a nomination for Best Folk Album at the Latin Grammy Awards of 2004.
Haddad has performed at numerous festivals including Festival de la Guitarra de Córdoba, MIDEA Festival Tenerife Canary Islands and the Murcia Tres Culturas Festival. In 1999 he won first prize for his original music composition at the Certamen Nacional de Coreografia para Danza Española y Flamenco (National Choreography Competition for Spanish Dance and Flamenco).
He's the guitarist for the World of Hans Zimmer band.
Style and compositions As a flamenco player Haddad is noted for his rich chord voicings, with a clear Moorish and Arabic influence. He frequently uses sophisticated jazz chords and innovative extended voicings for major and minor chords, and often creates a mysterious and atmospheric Moorish ambiance to his compositions through a lush tapestry of flat ninth, minor major seventh and augmented chords. Additionally he often uses slash chords, gripping the bass string. His picados are typically heavily executed and crisp-sounding, and his rasqueados are cascading and dynamic. He is also an adept player of rock music and metal electric guitar and embraces a wide range of styles.
In March 2013 Haddad, in collaboration with Thomas Vogt and Héctor Tellini, released the album 9 Guitarras, featuring flamenco music with an Arabic and Oriental flavour. The album takes its title from the nine different flamenco guitar, one for each track, loaned to him by guitar reseller Mundo Flamenco. His best-known compositions, Suena el viento (Rumba), Punta y tacón (Alegría), Recuerdos (Farruca) and Dos Palomas Vuelan (Balada), all feature on the album.
References
External links Official website (in Spanish) Official website (English version)