Michael Heart

Michael Heart (born Annas Allaf, ) is a Syrian-American singer-songwriter, recording artist, guitarist and audio engineer based in Los Angeles, CA. He was born in Syria and raised in Europe (Switzerland and Austria) and the United States. His father is the veteran diplomat Mowaffak Allaf.

Career

He started playing piano and guitar at age 10. Shortly thereafter, he began songwriting and eventually progressed towards recording. After earning his audio engineering degree from Full Sail University, he moved to Los Angeles in 1990 and began working on the local studio circuit as a session guitarist and a recording engineer.

In 2008, he independently released his debut solo album "Unsolicited Material". The album is a collection of Pop/Rock songs with lyrical content covering such topics as adultery ("Living In Sin"), war ("Damaged World"), domestic violence ("Finally Free") and the challenges of making a living ("Life Goes On").

He has worked with such artists as Brandy, Will Smith, Toto, Natalie Cole,The Temptations, Phil Collins, Patty LaBelle, The Pointer Sisters, Earth Wind & Fire, Ricky Lee Jones, Lou Rawls, Jesse McCartney, Hilary Duff, Jessica Simpson, Jennifer Paige,Al Jarreau, K-Ci & Jojo, Deborah Cox, Monica , Taylor Dayne, Keiko Matsui, Steve Nieves, Luis Miguel and Tarkan ... he also worked in the studio with French artists like Calogero (The Charts), Marc Lavoine and Veronique Sanson. Other projects also included work with producers Rodney Jerkins, Philippe Saisse and David Foster. ... most of Michael’s work has been in the recording studio, he has also done some touring (notably back in the early 90’s, when he toured as a Flamenco guitarist in a guitar trio with Juan Manuel Canizares, opening for Dire Straits) ... also recorded and toured with the smooth jazz band Jango.. On most of these recording credits, Michael is credited with his real name as “Annas Allaf".

Song for Gaza

In January 2009, he composed and released a song in support of the Palestinian civilian victims of the Israeli war in Gaza. The song is called "We Will Not Go Down (Song For Gaza)" and gained popularity on sites like YouTube. The official YouTube video of the song was viewed over 1 million times within a month of its release; the recording of the song was broadcast on radio and television in many countries along with blogs and websites worldwide and it was chanted in many demonstrations in cities ranging from Sydney, Australia to London, England . The Palestine Argentine Delegation Embassy website also put the song with lyrics on its page.

Heart made the mp3 of the song freely downloadable from his official website, which he reports has been downloaded over 500,000 times, encouraging the listeners to make a donation to United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

Though musically praised around the world, the song received some political criticism from the Israeli camp.

Discography

Albums

  • Unsolicited Material (2008)

Songs:

  1. Living In Sin 4:03,
  2. Life Goes On 3:59,
  3. Lost In You 3:53,
  4. Damaged World 4:00,
  5. Wanna Be Bad 3:50,
  6. I Just Don't Understand 4:27,
  7. Denial 3:47,
  8. Don't Want This Love 3:37,
  9. Finally Free 4:30,
  10. What Will It Take 4:23,

Singles

  • "We Will Not Go Down (Song For Gaza)"

Notes

Interviews

Music

ar:مايكل هارت (مغني) id:Michael Heart

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