OTTMAR LIEBERT Mixes and Matches By Carolyn Patten Photos Carolyn Wright
By Emmaly Wiederholt Photo Mike Lane
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ew easy-listening musicians have achieved the kind of acclaim Ottmar Liebert has. The Cologne, Germany native is a five-time Grammy Award nominee, and has received 38 Gold and Platinum certifications in the United States, as well as certifications in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. His many albums span the gamut, drawing on musical traditions and influences the world over. He also happens to live in Santa Fe. “It’s just as surprising for me as anybody else; I had always lived in big cities,” Liebert says. “In the late 80s, I was living in Boston, and a friend of mine was visiting Santa Fe and suggested I come check it out. After I arrived, I climbed up to the ski basin where I could see out at least 60 miles. I’d never seen that much space in my life. I felt my mind become as open as the landscape.” At the time, Liebert was playing electric guitar in a rock band in Boston. On that initial visit to the City Different, he went to a concert where one musician was playing flamenco guitar, another was playing banjo and the third was playing classical violin. “It was such a weird and interesting combination,” he recalls. “I started to combine the Spanish and Mexican influence of the city with just about anything else I could throw in there.” Liebert had found his new home. At the end of 1989, Liebert had a meeting with a record company in Los Angeles. They told him he had to change his name, as no one could pronounce or remember Ottmar Liebert, and they
told him he had to move to Los Angeles. “I stood up from the table and said the discussion was over,” he describes. “Frankly, I liked my life in Santa Fe more than I could imagine liking my life as an L.A. musician with a recording contract. I think the record company was pretty surprised, and eventually offered me the contract. I kept my name and stayed in Santa Fe.” Liebert’s newest album, Waiting + Swan, fuses the music of Bob Marley with a bit of flamenco flair. “I saw a connection between reggae and the flamenco tangos rhythm,” he explains. “After doing some research, I discovered the rhythm originally came to Spain through the Harbor of Cádiz from the Caribbean. From there, it made its way down to Andalusia and turned into the tangos flamenco rhythm. So tangos and reggae are siblings; they have the same original African rhythm at heart. I thought it would be interesting to do something that brought them back together.” As a lifelong fan of Bob Marley, Liebert uses many Marley covers to play out his reggae-flamenco experiment. The resulting album is at once familiar and fresh. Liebert continues to share his mix-and-match musical approach with the rest of the world, but at the end of the day, he draws strength from the mountain city he calls home: “If you look at how comfortable people are mixing things in Santa Fe – from food to music – there’s a lot of hybridization going on, which I think is really healthy and interesting.” For more information, visit ottmarliebert.com.