Ottmar Liebert
Ottmar Liebert is a German-born composer and guitarist, born to a Chinese-German father and a Hungarian mother. As a child, he spent most of his time traveling Europe and Asia with his family. Ottmar leads an ensemble called Luna Negra (“Black Moon”), which has gained popularity performing as a touring band and recording music albums in a “Nouveau Flamenco” style. Luna Negra mixes elements of flamenco with jazz, bossa nova, Hindu meditation music, and other genres.
Ottmar, a Grammy-nominated, platinum-selling guitarist and composer, has always been a creative thinker and doer. He has traveled extensively through Europe and Asia intent on fully absorbing each musical tradition he encountered. After pursuing his rock and roll dreams first in his native Germany and then in Boston where he played in the alternative band RED with his brother “Stayfun” on bass, Red scored a local hit with the song “Happy Song”. Ottmar then settled in Santa Fe, New Mexico. By 1989, he had founded the first incarnation of his Luna Negra band. The ground-breaking album Nouveau Flamenco began life as a self-produced local release called ´”Marita: Shadows and Storms”, copies of which local artist Frank Howell distributed in his art galleries. When the record found its way to radio stations and began generating a buzz among programmers and an unprecedented response among listeners, Higher Octave Music picked it up and released a re-mastered version.
Since 1990, Ottmar Liebert has released a total of 23 albums, including live releases, Christmas CDs, 10 CDs of original music, a DVD and remixes. His debut album sold double-platinum and has become one of the best-selling guitar albums ever. Luna Negra’s fans – hardcore guitarists and guitar fans, instrumental music aficionados and numerous lovers of their often poignant, always inspired sound – are ardent in their appreciation.
