About Me
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Southern California native Luis Oliart's talent as a guitarist, singer, and songwriter has been described as "simply magical… totally captivating… compelling." His sound blends the influences of funk, rock, blues, reggae and Latin, producing music that is fresh and full of energy. Oliart has tagged this new genre "Alternative Soul", and he has brought this unique sound to such well-known venues as House of Blues, the Hard Rock Café, Key Club, Knitting Factory, BB King's, The Bitter End, CBGB, and even Carnegie Hall. In addition to performing all throughout the US, Luis has also toured Canada, Europe and Southeast Asia.
Although Oliart is identified with his bass, acoustic and Dobro guitar playing, his talent extends to strong vocal abilities and original lyrics. In a review from Music Connection Magazine, Bernard Baur raves, "Oliart weaves extraordinary rhythms and guitar percussion that are simply magical," and he was listed among the magazine's "Top 100 Artists" list in 2005 and 2006. In addition to touring the world and fine-tuning his musical technique, Luis has worked with Mike Tovar (Los Lobos, Chaka Khan) and producer/composer John Carta (Dawson's Creek, Ally McBeal, Grey's Anatomy). He made it to the "Top 50" in NBC's reality show Star Tomorrow; wrote the featured commercial song for a national Corona beer campaign; had a featured blues single on KPFK's Arts in Review radio show; did a guest performance on L.A. TV's "Inside the Industry: The Music", which covered breakthrough artists; and has appeared on an E! Entertainment Television reality show.
Luis Oliart expresses his love and belief in the healing power of music by performing for chronic and terminally ill children through Art of Elysium, a non-profit organization that encourages working actors, artists and musicians to dedicate their time and talent to children who are battling serious medical conditions. Oliart also runs a thriving private teaching practice for students ranging from three to sixty years old and works with the LA Unified School District to teach schoolteachers music theory skills to use in their classrooms.
While Oliart's first solo CD, Acoustics, offered a mix of original blues and rock songs, his second CD, Sincero, explored his Latin roots more deeply. This is especially true on his first Spanish language
track, "La Petite Morte", which unfolds from a Flamenco intro into a melody and rhythm that captures audiences of every ethnicity and generation.
His newest CD, entitled simply Luis Oliart, includes a brand-new production of this song in addition to four other audience favorites, all produced by John Carta. Several of these songs can be heard here on Myspace, and they are all available for download at CDBaby and ITunes .
For more info, check out Luis' official website at www.oliartmusic.com .
Quotes:
"If Luis doesn't advance to the next round, I'm gonna take him myself and start our own project on the side!"
– Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top) on NBC's Star Tomorrow
"...simply magical... totally captivating... compelling."
-- Bernard Baur, The Music Connection
"It's beautiful to hear such great stirring spirit… there is a fire in it… I love what you are doing."
-- Joey Reynolds, 710 WOR Radio
