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The New Flamenco (online here) by: Lawrence Russell Tonino Baliardo, Chano Dominguez, Ottmar Liebert, Oscar Lopez, Paco de Lucia, Robert Michaels, John McLaughlin, Al di Meola the bavarian mariachi In the cult movie El Mariachi you first see the young guitar player trying to hitch a ride on the highway outside of Acuna, Mexico. His interior voice says, "It was a morning like any other... no love... no luck... no ride. Nothing changes. I came across a turtle on the highway... we were both taking our time getting to where we were going...." Not so Ottmar Liebert, a German emigre to the USA who is, for many listeners, the most complete definition of the flamenco revival. Why? Because his style is feminine, lyrical, nostalgic? Or because his first CD -- an indie release in 1990 -- is called Nouveau Flamenco? While OL has a classical guitar background, his influences include not only the Regatta de Blanc verve of the punk new wave of the late seventies/early eighties but also pop music in general. OL is not the sort of player who misses notes. His fabulous technical ability combines with an uncanny compositional intuition to create strong, original material. His touch is light, melodic, and fits the "easy listening" ambience of the New Age genre. You feel nostalgic when you listen to his first instrumental "hit", "Sante Fe", think immediately of the Old West, movie theme music, waggon wheels echoing in the arroyos, riders in the sage, ghost gunfighters and banditos. This cross-border vibe permeates much of his music... so, just as Andalusia blends with North Africa, so too the American south-west with Mexico. One of OL's best hybrid compositions is "Snakecharmer", which can be found on his CD, rumba collection: 1992--1997 and on the recent DVD release, Wide-Eyed + Dreaming, which features 10 instrumentals from a concert at the Calgary Centre for the Performing Arts [framed by interviews with the man at his home and nearby environs in New Mexico]. Heresy to purists, the live version of "Snakecharmer" starts with a prelude played on the electric guitar, a deep canyon sound filled with metaphors of spirits, petroglyphs, water falling... you are the snake, and you hear the sound of the guitar calling. Again, the feeling is one of big skies, and an open landscape where you can see for a hundred miles. When OL reverts to his Spanish acoustic to complete the tune, his ability as a great rhythm player is also evident. He never overplays -- in this sense his discipline is his secret. Certainly, he can spill the notes out with great speed... but it's by his minimalism that beauty is created. Notes hang, chords ghost... and you imagine the rest. His fascination with the crawling snake is explored once again in "Yarrow: Snaky Desert Song" (Little Wing, Epic 2001)... a beautiful piece... but is it flamenco? "I think of the landscape (New Mexico) as an empty canvas," says OL in one of the DVD sequences. Hence his music is anthropomorphic, bordered with the silence of a large space. Behind the catchy melodies the landscape is hallucinatory. His band luna negra is what fusion is all about... you might think they're a retro-looking bunch, a lost commune... but that's New Age karma. They certainly lay down a tight rhythm: the flowing fretless runs of Jon Gagan on bass, the layered syncopations of Mark Clark ... occasionally Ron Wagner on Tablas, Dumbek, various ancient skins... although it must be noted that bassist Gagan is the only continuous member and these days Mike Chavez is playing drums. Sometimes OL uses a second guitarist, even horns... and of course he has no purist aversion to the synthesizer. While he might play the acoustic with nylon strings, it's wired to a sampler which triggers occasional soft synth orchestral backgrounds. Barcelona Nights: the best of Ottmar Liebert, Vol 1 (Higher Octave Music, 2001). A good introduction to the soft hands of the New Age maestro. All of the recordings are excellent, even the bodega cellar reverb tracks. "Barcelona Nights", the oft anthologized "Sante Fe", the dreamy "Isla del Sol", the strange heaving blood dance of "Bullfighter's Dream", the avant "Borrasca"... and more. Nice box and labelling too. the rumba collection: 1992--1997 (Sony Music, 1997). Very nice, good sunny morning music, or early evening on the patio with a bottle of Chilean Merlot... or a bogart, if you still do that sort of thing. A couple of tracks with tasty electric guitar codas, others, horns. "Butterfly + Juniper" is especially good. Rumbas, sambas, bossa novas... occasional tango preludes, Mex mariachi licks... and lots of the engaging OL rhythm playing. Nouveau Flamenco (Higher Octave Music, 2000). Tenth Anniversary reissue of the indie CD that propelled OL to fame. Nice to have. Sets out his fusion style of disciplined structures and improv sidebars.
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