Fuego
“Fuego: World Beat Flamenco Fusion” is Hanna’s first expression of his musical vision, which is a mosaic of various cultural rhythms acting as a reflection of his collective lifetime experience as a musician and a person. You will find on this album a song to suit virtually every musical taste.
Composed, recorded and produced independently by Hanna Madbak through HM2: Music Holography Studios, Inc. in 2003, Fuego represents Hanna’s first step in his musical journey.
RUMBA FIESTA
Rumba is an upbeat Flamenco style that gained popularity through the music of the Gypsy Kings. Live percussion by Tony Gomez on the Cajon sets the mood for a festive jam between multiple guitars tracks by Hanna Madbak.
SAFE JOURNEY
The saxophone of Joanne Lagendyk emulates the voice of a singer wishing a traveler a safe journey. If you listen to this song on stereo headphones you will notice that the saxophone flows spatially from the left side to the right side and back at exactly 0:35 seconds from the beginning of the song.
POTAJE
“Potaje” (soup in Spanish) adequately describes this melting pot of cultural rhythms and Spanish guitar improvisations. Potaje started as an informal studio recording that was not intended for release. However, as the blunder remark at the end of the song suggests, it was “not bad, not bad.” So I included it!.
SAMBA FUSION
“A fusion of Flamenco guitar with a Brazilian Samba beat. A unique and interesting texture is created by mixing multiple layers of guitar and vocal improvisations. The tapping that you hear in the recording (around 1:45 from the beginning of the song) is caused by my hand tapping on the side of the guitar. This sound was inadvertently recorded on the track because I forgot to mute that recording channel while I was mixing. My singing, on the other hand, may have been a mistake, but it wasn’t inadvertent.
TECHNO FUSION
“This is the marriage of a Dance/Techno beat layered with multiple layers of acoustic guitar improvisations, Flamenco-style Palmas (clapping) and chanting from a distance. If you listen to this song on stereo headphones you will notice that sound of water drops alternates from the left side to the right side and back at around 4:00.
ROMANZA
“Romanza is a traditional classical guitar piece that I combined with a smooth, sensual and relaxing crashing waves background. Close your eyes and enjoy. The first movement of my Romanza is a classical etude which I don’t know the name of, but I thought sounded good as a prelude to Romanza. In the fifth movement of my Romanza, I replace the traditional arpeggio technique with a Flamenco tremolo a variation I learned from my friend and teacher maestro Mariano Cordoba.
FUEGO
“Fuego” (fire in Spanish) is a Rumba Flamenco style combined with Tony Gomez’s Latin conga rhythms and Indian Udu drum accents.
Fuego was my first Flamenco guitar composition..
ROOTS
A melancholic guitar solo serves as a prelude to a violin improvisation that takes the listener back to the roots. The rhythm of the song builds up steadily like a wave approaching the shore. The tension is resolved at the end of the song as a wave ends its journey on a rocky cliff side
GOING AWAY
Based on the traditional Flamenco style Taranta, this song expresses a somber mood that gradually and stealthily combines with an upbeat Middle Eastern rhythm signifying struggling through and overcoming life’s trials and tribulations. This is my favorite composition and the one I am most proud of.
SPACESHIP EARTH
Inspired by the visionary Buckminster Fuller, the title of this song symbolizes the greatest challenge ahead of humanity: how to work together as a crew to maintain spaceship earth
EAST TO WEST
The marriage between a western and an eastern beat. The song starts with a popular western dance beat and gradually transforms into the Middle Eastern beat of Baladi. This song was intended to signify on the various cultural influences on the life of a musician who was born in the east, lives in the west, but cannot identify himself with either.
LEILA
An improvisational Spanish guitar mix with Middle Eastern flavors and a Jazzy flair. The energy and optimism of this song were inspired by the spark in the eyes of a little girl named Leila.