Inspired by his own travels and life on three different continents (South Asia, Europe, and North America), Wind Horse Records owner Hamza has reached a milestone in his first full-length album, Gitano. It’s the 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. The title of the album, Gitano, is Spanish for gypsy, 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.
Hamza’s trademark elements are all present in this emotive album: uplifting melodies, sparkling production, warm bass lines, and well-placed breakdowns. His musical mission has been to seamlessly merge floor-driving deep and tech-house styles with a reverent helping of global musical traditions in addition to Hamza’s clear south Asian influences. For Gitano he incorporates even more cultural trademarks.
“Blue Groove” and “Ritmo Del Amor” have a very classic Latin-influenced NY house sound incorporating tight hand percussion, funky bass guitars with plenty of groove, energetic keys on a mission, quick flute accents, and vocals used as their own instruments whether percussive or melodic. “Blue Groove” also features the contribution of Mr. Bista, a new, frequent studio collaborator with Hamza. “Tech Me To Havana” is exactly as the play on words in the title suggests and “New York 2 New Delhi” blends all of the above into a familiar epic of evolving bass, chugging stabs, highs soaring on sensory overload, and explosive build ups - everything we’ve come to expect from a Wind Horse release.
“Let The Music Play On” (featuring the vocals of the UK-based Loopy Juice) brings to the forefront more funk and jazz elements made evident across guitar riffs, claps, snares, cymbals, and vocals.
The title track, “Gitano,” is a truly noteworthy anchor to this release with its constantly dreamy but driving bells, crashing cymbals, remarkably deep sub-y bass, classic flamenco guitars, and traditional Indian singing. It is an unclassifiable melting pot of South African melodies, Spanish finger work, and UK bass all tied together by India’s voice.
Gitano marks the fifth year of Wind Horse Records as the imprint continues to pioneer the deep house movement in India with releases, parties, and ground-breaking collaborations. Having developed the country’s 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 artists 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. As evidenced by the sound of Gitano, Hamza and Wind Horse Records have big dreams, and Wind Horse’s evolution on the world stage never fails to captivate.
Inland Knights - “A great, melodic release with top production and vibes.”
CJ Mackintosh - “Very nice … I love ‘New York 2 New Delhi.’”
Hippie Torrales - “Quality album. Every tune is top notch.”
Spesh (Jondi & Spesh) - “Great stuff here across the board.”
Sebastian Davidson (Seamless / Night Drive) - “Perfect from my upcoming summer gigs!”
Bruno From Ibiza (Ibiza Global Radio) - “A nice combination of house music, acoustic elements, and multi-cultural influences.”
Alvaro Hylander (DeepWit Recordings) - “Lots of grooves combined with great melodies. Really digging all tracks here.”
Christos Kedras (Beat Philosophy / Kapa Music) - “Another great package from Wind Horse. ‘Blue Groove’ and ‘Gitano’ are my picks.”
Strat3gy (House Afrika Records) - “Hamza’s releases are consistently fresh and improve each time.”
Joey Silvero (Distant People) - “Pure energy and bliss.”
Audio Units (UnMute Agency, India) - “Fantastic album. Proper gems in here, each one for the right mood, time, and space.”
Marc Lacasse (sHIFT Radio) - “Deep and full of uplifting soulful summery vibes … nicely done.”
Bob Duskis (Six Degrees Records) - “Deep and beautiful sounds, the way that we’ve come to expect from Hamza and Wind Horse.”
DJ Deelay (Underground Sessions) - “Blissfulness! No need for vocals when the drums and snares and keys sound so crisp … straight in to my soulful playlist.”
Ornette (Radial Blur on MyHouseYourHouse) - “A simply brilliant album! In an era of over-produced, uninspired, and mostly inaccessible tunes this is so refreshing to hear. These grooves sparkle with class and are all very DJ and dancer friendly. I love this!”
DJ Naz (Buddha Bar) - “True to his usual style and form Hamza delivers another techy-exotic and elegant offering. All the tracks are highly playable … premium cocktail material.”
Jamie Topham (CDPool) - “Hamza never fails to impress me, appearing to have no limitations with what he can do in a studio. Every production he graces has sounded incredible and he fuses so many cool elements to his tracks, with the beats always on point. Soulful, deep, tech house music at its very best. Take a bow.”
Al Bradley (3am Recordings) - “Well, what is there to say apart from ‘exceptional?’ If this was by MAW or some other house luminary people would be falling over themselves with superlatives. Hamza deserves all the plaudits he can get for this collection, as it is truly superb and showcases a producer who is adept at turning his hand to all vibes.”