Ottmar Liebert - Biography
German-born guitarist and composer Ottmar Liebert is a favorite with new age, flamenco, classical, world music and smooth jazz listeners, both alone and with his rotating band Luna Negra. He has released dozens of best-selling albums since 1988, and to this day keeps up an ambitious touring schedule all over the world.
Liebert was born in Cologne, Germany to a Hungarian mother and a Chinese-German father. Though he started guitar lessons at 11 years old and took classical guitar training in his teens, Liebert is largely self-taught. He dropped out of art school in the early ’80s and proceeded to hitch all over Russia and Asia, playing with local musicians and harnessing his own kind of world fusion. He returned to Germany shortly and played in blues and funk bands before moving to Boston to join up with his brother Stefan in the rock band, RED. The band never recorded, and the itinerant Liebert soon set out for Santa Fe, New Mexico.
In 1989, Liebert began concentrating on acoustic guitar again and formed Luna Negra—a “rubber band” with rotating members—and they honed in on his flamenco-flavored world music. Luna Negra (which means Black Moon) put out a self-produced album, Marita: Shadows & Storms (1989)—a limited run of 1,000 copies—and sold it at Native American artist Frank Howell’s gallery in Santa Fe. When radio station WAVE in Los Angeles started giving it heavy rotation, Higher Octave Music picked the album up and reissued it as Nouveau Flamenco (1990). What started out a record made just for friends ended up going double platinum, and established Liebert as a guitarist and composer. Nouveau Flamenco stayed on the New Age charts for three years.
Poets & Angels: Music For the Holidays (1990 Higher Octave) and the Grammy-nominated Borrasca (1991 Higher Octave) were well received, the latter which featured innovative mariachi flourishes and horn arrangements. Liebert’s major label debut, Solo Para Ti (1992 Epic), crossed pop barriers and climbed all the way to #1 on the New Age chart, eventually going gold. He would open up for Natalie Cole on tour during this time, and Billboard magazine named Liebert its “New Age Artist of the Year” in 1992. He introduced his electric guitar work on The Hours Between Night + Day (1993 Epic) and worked with Steve Hillage, DJ Slip, and Aki Nawaz on the remix album Euphoria (1995 Epic.)
Following a year-and-a-half stint of constant touring, Liebert produced the two-disc set Opium (1996 Epic), which featured his playing on fretless lute, electric guitar, and flamenco guitar. On Leaning Into The Night (1997 Sony Classical), Liebert was backed by a symphony orchestra performing pieces by Ravel, Satie, Puccini, and Villa-Lobos, as well as his own compositions. Innamorare: Summer Flamenco (1999 Epic) featured Luna Negra and a horn section, and was a return to his simple flamenco musings after forays into dance and classical music. Christmas + Santa Fe (2000 Sony) was a moody collection of familiar holiday standards.
Little Wing (2001 Epic) again featured Luna Negra per force, and boasted relaxed versions of the Hendrix title track as well as covers such as Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir” and The Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black.” In The Arms Of Love: Lullabies 4 Children & Adults (2002 Higher Octave) is a deep, meditative new age excursion, while The Santa Fe Sessions (2003 Higher Octave) revisits favorite Luna Negra tunes with a horn section, full band and more upbeat arrangements. Liebert’s third holiday album, Winter Rose: Music Inspired by the Holidays (2005 33rd Street), put a flamenco twist on such traditional songs as “O Holy Night” and “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” One Guitar (2006) is a solo excursion, the first album Liebert made for his own label, Spiral Subwave. His prolific output continued with Up Close (2008 Spiral Subwave) and The Scent of Light (2008 Spiral Subwave).
Liebert has three excellent compilations available: Barcelona Nights: The Best Of Ottmar Liebert Volume One (2001 Higher Octave), Surrender 2 Love: The Best Of Ottmar Liebert Volume Two (2001 Higher Octave) and The Best Of Ottmar Liebert (2002,Sony Legacy.)
Liebert has been nominated for Grammy’s five times in his career, and in 2006 he was ordained a Zen Monk in Salt Lake City.