Since 1990, Ottmar Liebert has released a total of 22 albums. His debut album, 1990’s Nouveau Flamenco, featuring “Barcelona Nights,†sold double-platinum in the USA, Australia and New Zealand and has become the biggest-selling instrumental guitar album of all time. Billboard magazine honored him twice New Age Artist of the Year.
Awards
Other Links:
Official Ottmar Liebert Web Site
ListeningLounge (Download Store)
SSRI Mailorder Web Store
ListeningLounge Radio Podcast
You can also find the podcast in iTunes' podcast directory by searching for Ottmar Liebert or use the Clickcaster website, the Podcast Directory website, the Odeon Channel .
Ottmar's Web Diary
Ottmar's Photos
Ottmar's Catalog
That's the official bio stuff... now about me: I started playing guitar when I was 11. Took classical guitar lessons from age 12-16. Started taking photos when I was 12. Began to meditate twice a day when I was 15. Went to art school from 16-18. After school I worked as a driver for 7 months to save up money. When I turned 19 I decided to travel before going to design college and spent a year in Asia. Trans-Siberian railroad to Nachodka, from there a boat to Japan, 3 weeks of hitch-hiking around, then a couple of months in Taiwan (studied Tai-Chi in Taipei twice a day for a month), a month in Hongkong, a month in Thailand and Ku Phuket (in those days a hut on the beach was $1.50/night), two months in Nepal, and finally 3 months in India. The whole year cost me something like $4,000. From India I flew home to Germany and decided I wanted to become a musician. In May of 1979 I flew to New York and spent the next 7 years on the East Coast, mostly in Boston. Played at a lot of Rock clubs, like the Rat (Rathskeller), and Spit, and the Channel in Boston... I sounded different in those days - my band once opened for Ministry, which will give you an idea how different my music then was... In Spring of 1986 I arrived in Santa Fe and decided I wanted to do something completely different. Picked up a classical guitar. Started playing in hotels and restaurant, anywhere they would hire a guitarist. Studied Flamenco and in 1988 began recording my new music. In Spring of 1989 I made a hand-shake agreement with the late native American artist Frank Howell: he would pay for the recording and manufacturing of a CD, he would pay for the studio time and the additional musicians I would need, but my only payment was going to be the Master recording itself, which I would receive once he had manufactured 1,000 CDs. That Master, recorded for less than $3,000 would become Nouveau Flamenco and change my life. In 1990 we opened for Miles Davis in Seattle, we opened for Milton Nascimiento in San Francisco, we opened for Basia for three months across America... From 1990 to 1996 my band was constantly on tour. And when we weren't touring we were in recording studios - from 1990-1994 we recorded in Santa Barbaba. We were away so much that people is Santa Fe thought we had moved to California... Opium, released by Epic Records in 1996, was the first album recorded and mixed at my studio in Santa Fe. Later in 1996 we toured with Santana for a few months. That was unforgettable because Santana was the first band I ever saw live (Cologne 1975) and Carlos was a huge influence early on. In 2003 I recorded La Semana . That album is a defining moment for me because I recorded, mixed and mastered it myself, without an engineer. In February of 2004 I met Genpo Roshi at Ken Wilber's house in Boulder. In August of that year I became his student and in December I sat my first sesshin. In May of 2005 I received Jukai . In May of 2006 I received Tokudo and during the Summer SSRI released a new album of solo guitar music, One Guitar . At the end of September I went with Nomad Clinics to Kham in Eastern Tibet for a month.
