Virtuoso
guitar player Ottmar Liebert is a platinum-selling recording artist who sparked
a world music revival in the early nineties with the release of his
groundbreaking debut Nouveau Flamenco, and currently stands as one of the
world's most popular and compelling instrumental performers. With over twelve
years of tireless touring and fourteen studio recordings, Liebert can trace his
incredible success to both his cultural background and the meandering course of
his career, as well as to his love for music itself.
Born to a Chinese-German father and Hungarian mother in Cologne, he picked up a
guitar at age eleven, studied classical guitar through his teens, and at
eighteen set off on a series of journeys throughout Europe and Asia, surveying
the traditional music of various cultures before seeking an outlet for these
crucial experiences in the Western pop forms of the late 1970s and early 80s.
After an unsatisfying stint in Germany with a jazz-funk band, Liebert answered
the call of his popular heroes—Miles Davis, Carlos Santana, Jimi Hendrix, John
McLaughlin—and came to the United States, settling first in Boston (where he
played with another jazz-funk combo while making ends meet as a bike messenger),
and then in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1986.
It was in Santa Fe's laid-back multicultural arts scene that Liebert finally
felt liberated from the need to "make it" in the music business, and began
pursuing a more personal agenda. Upon a chance encounter with an odd trio of
musicians in a restaurant (a classical violinist, a flamenco guitarist, and a
banjo player), Liebert took to studying flamenco and soon began to distill the
centuries-old style into a dynamic, contemporary sound. This amalgamation was
brought to life by the formation of his new band Luna Negra in 1988, and would
soon take the world by storm with Nouveau Flamenco, released by Higher
Octave Music in 1989.
While Liebert confesses to having been perfectly happy playing his modern
derivation of the southern Spanish art form in the stuccoed hotels and ristra-covered
eateries of Santa Fe, within a year's time he was opening for Miles Davis and
receiving letters from fans in Europe, South America, Australia, and Asia.
Indeed, it speaks to the international appeal of his musical voice that he has
not willingly pigeon-holed himself as "just" a traditional Flamenco player.
With the help of an opening stint for Basia on her 1989/90 tour, Nouveau
Flamenco peaked at #3 on Billboard's Adult Alternative chart and #1 on the
New Age chart (where it was followed by 1990's Poets & Angels and the
Grammy-nominated Borrasca in 1991).
In 1992, Liebert signed to Epic records and released Solo Para Ti, which
featured a cameo by Santana. After opening for Natalie Cole throughout her 1992
Unforgettable tour, Luna Negra took off on an extensive European and South
American jaunt, after which Liebert broadened his compositional pallet with
reinterpretations of soul and blues standards (The Hours Between Night And
Day, 1993), a collection of dance remixes (Euphoria, 1995), classical
orchestration (Leaning into the Night, 1997), and a stab at classic rock
staples by the likes of Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and the Rolling Stones (Little
Wing, 2001).
Liebert returned to Higher Octave Music in 2002 to put forth In the Arms of
Love, an album of lullabies written for children, followed by The Santa
Fe Sessions in 2003. His most recent release, Nouveaumatic, ventures
even further into postmodern sonic territory, incorporating world beat, dance
rhythms, synthesizer and ambient sounds.
Discography:
Barcelona Nights: The Best of Ottmar Liebert, Vol. 1Borrasca [With Luna Negra]
Christmas + Santa FeEuphoria [With Luna Negra]
Euphoria: 3 Is 4 Good Luck In the Arms of Love: Lullabies 4 Children + Adults La Semana [With Luna Negra] Little Wing [With Luna Negra]Nouveau Flamenco 1990-2000 Special Tenth Anniversary Edition
OpiumPoets & Angels: Music 4 The Holidays
Rumba Collection: 1992-1997 [With Luna Negra]Solo Para Ti [With Luna Negra]
Surrender 2 Love: The Best of Ottmar Liebert, Vol. 2
The Best of Ottmar LiebertThe Hours Between Night + Day [With Luna Negra]
The Santa Fe Sessions [With Luna Negra]
Viva [With Luna Negra]Wide-Eyed + Dreaming [With Luna Negra]
Ottmar Liebert - Snakecharmer
Ottmar Liebert - Barcelona Nights
Ottmar Liebert - This Spring Release 10,000 Butterflies
Ottmar Liebert - Santa Fe
Ottmar Liebert - Heart Still Beating
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