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by David Veitch How much Ottmar is too much Ottmar? According to the man himself, there's no such thing as too much Ottmar Liebert. "The record company always tries to tell me I'm writing too much; I put too much music on (my albums); I write too many albums," says the long-haired guitar instrumentalist whose brand of gypsy music has made him a New Age superstar. (Nouveau Flamenco, the title of his 1990 album, pretty much sums up his oeuvre.) Says Liebert: "I have so much running around my brain ... that I do enjoy making long albums. I'd go crazy if I didn't." With his latest release, Opium, Liebert has dropped The Big One. It's a two-CD set of all-new material and is the first recording made at his home studio in Santa Fe, N.M. His tour to support the record arrives at the Jack Singer Concert Hall on Sunday for two shows, at 5 and 8:30 p.m. Liebert's critics may claim his music is best suited as background music for dinner parties -- "Then I'm in good company -- Bach, Beethoven, Mozart," he retorts -- but there's no denying he's a phenomenally gifted guitarist whose albums are sonically immaculate. He is, after all, a child of The Headphone Age, raised on the music of Pink Floyd and The Alan Parsons Project. As a teen, "I would take any chance to visit friends ... who were into those albums. We just sit there and they'd be smoking their first cigarettes -- I never liked cigarettes myself -- we'd light up a couple sticks of incense and listen to Floyd." Still, some of his female fans think of Liebert as Fabio-esque first and talented second. Ask about his sex-symbol image and he coyly responds: "I didn't know I had one. "I remember when I was playing in Boston, I was surprised how many ads said: 'Looking for drummer. Must sing. Must have hair.' I want you to know we don't have a stylist or somebody buying our clothes or any of that (garbage). When you come to the concert, that's us." |