{"id":24362,"date":"2017-05-23T14:14:08","date_gmt":"2017-05-23T18:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=24362"},"modified":"2017-05-23T14:14:13","modified_gmt":"2017-05-23T18:14:13","slug":"on-stage-bonus-ottmar-liebert-is-as-international-as-it-gets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=24362","title":{"rendered":"On Stage (Bonus): Ottmar Liebert is as international as it gets"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff<\/strong>, Staff Writer, The Times<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Ottmar Liebert<\/p><\/div>\n

A project by Ottmar Liebert can be as international as a United Nations committee meeting.<\/p>\n

Liebert, who will be performing with his band Luna Negra on May 24 at the Sellersville Theater (24 West Temple Avenue, Sellersville, 215-257-5808,\u00a0www.st94.com<\/a>), has been multi-national since he was born.<\/p>\n

The talented musician grew up in K\u00f6ln, Germany with a Hungarian mother and a German-Chinese father. He gained world-wide fame playing Spanish music (flamenco).<\/p>\n

Liebert\u2019s music also has other world music influences such as his 2105 album \u201cWaiting n Swan,\u201d which mixes elements of the Tangos Flamenco rhythm with Reggae beats.<\/p>\n

The most recent album by Liebert, an ordained Zen monk, is titled \u201cSlow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI made \u2018Slow\u2019 because I had done \u2018Waiting n Swan\u2019 and I wanted to do something different,\u201d said Liebert, during a phone interview last week from Santa Fe, New Mexico where he has lived since 1986.<\/p>\n

According to Liebert, \u201cSometime in 2015 I decided to record by myself, without the band, and that I wanted to create slow music.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor my new album, I wanted to raise my guitar against the sound of billions of smartphones beeping with the latest news, mentions, likes, and comments, keeping us in a state of constant alarm.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the beauty of instrumental music. Like the description of a tree in a book that requires your imagination so that it can take form in your mind, instrumental music can take on different shapes and colors, depending on your experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSlow\u2019 is a musical antidote for the sped-up world in which we are living in 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverywhere you go, people are staring at their phones and getting alarms,\u201d said Liebert. \u201cThis is the information overload we\u2019re getting<\/p>\n

\u201cI also\u00a0discovered that there has been scientific research into how slow music can relax\u00a0listeners\u2019 heartbeats and lower their blood pressure.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the sounds on \u2018Slow\u2019 were made with only one guitar and one microphone.\u00a0Some of the sounds were made by reversing the attack. For the bass guitar lines, I played at half-speed to make it an octave lower.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had my own studio since 1994. Working by myself in the studio felt like I was writing a diary. I\u2019m not so much a guitar guy. I\u2019m more interested in people.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the songs had been floating around for quite some time while others were relatively new. When I started this project, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liebert released his debut album \u201cMarita: Shadows and Storm\u201d in 1989. Since then, he has released more than 30 well-crafted albums of instrumental music.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith \u2018Waiting n Swan,\u2019 I was showing how different cultures combine to make what we assume to be one entity,\u201d said Liebert, who put together the first incarnation of his band Luna Negra (Black Moon) in 1989.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to see what would happen if I played Tangos Flamenco rhythm and Reggae at the same time. It worked seamlessly. Reggae and Tangos Flamenco — not to be confused with the Argentine Tango — are deeply connected.<\/p>\n

\u201cTangos has a lilt and features the same avoidance of beat one that Reggae and Salsa have, and to my ears it always sounded very different from other Flamenco forms.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome people believe the Caribbean rhythm was brought to the Spanish port Cadiz by sailors from merchant vessels, and that the catchy rhythm soon traveled to Andalusia, where it blended with local musical styles and became Tangos Flamenco.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe word \u2018tangos\u2019 itself might be derived from the onomatopoeia \u2018tang\u2019 which resembles \u2018the sound of the drum,\u2019 while in some parts of South America the word \u2018tangosa\u2019 refers to Africans dancing to the beat of drums.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe deep roots of these three rhythms, Tangos, Reggae and Salsa, of course, lie in Africa. With the title, \u2018Waiting n Swan\u2019 — the word \u2018waiting\u2019 refers to the song \u2018Waiting in Vain\u2019 and the phrase \u2018n Swan\u2019 is Caribbean creole meaning \u2018and so on\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fans will hear music from both albums in Liebert\u2019s show at the Sellersville Theater.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re doing one band version of a song from the \u2018Slow\u2019 album,\u201d said Liebert. \u201cWe have 30 albums out so we play songs from the very first one \u2013 and from the whole catalogue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video link for Ottmar Liebert and Luna Negra \u2013 https:\/\/youtu.be\/7A_ZKM4boxI<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The show at Sellersville will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $33 and $45.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Chastity Brown<\/p><\/div>\n

On the same night, Chastity Brown will be serving up a hearty helping of her intense, emotional music at the World Caf\u00e9 Live (3025 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, 215-222-1400, www.worldcafelive.com<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Brown is touring in support of her new album \u201cSilhouette of Sirens,\u201d which was just released on May 19 on Red House Records.<\/p>\n

Raised in Union City, Tennessee, Brown, who is now based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota, grew up playing the saxophone and drums in church before she started to write and sing her own songs.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father was a musician who played jazz and blues,\u201d said Brown, during a phone interview last week from a tour stop in New York City.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe played piano and trombone. My sister, who is four years older, played classical piano and my brother played tenor sax. I had access to a piano when I was eight and I played around with my brother\u2019s sax.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was 12, I told my mother I needed a sax. Later, I played sax in my high school marching band. Then, I saw someone play classical guitar.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said \u2013 oh my god, I need an acoustic guitar. I\u2019m going to die if I don\u2019t get one. In my sophomore year in high school, my mom bought me an acoustic guitar \u2013 with the stipulation that I had to practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my junior year, I learned the basic chords and scales in high school. After that, I realized I could play and sing and do it anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Influenced by her background, Brown\u2019s\u00a0music embraces the political, covering topics of identity and belonging.<\/p>\n

According to Brown, \u201cWhat I\u2019ve realized is that the personal is political. Just by me being a bi-racial, half-black, half-white woman living in America right now is political. Just being a person of color, a queer woman of color, for that matter, is freaking political.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown melds folk, pop and soul on \u201cSilhouette of Sirens\u201d — weaving together a poet\u2019s\u00a0lyrical ear and a soul-laid-bare quality.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started making this album four years ago and finished two years ago in July,\u201d said Brown. \u201cI was writing these songs \u2013 half by myself and half with my writing partner Robert Mulrennen.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen, I realized it didn\u2019t fulfill what I was looking or sonically. It was too perfect. All the musicians were recording separately and then I\u2019d add my vocals at the end. It was missing the element of playing live. I\u2019m a live musician.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, I had to scrap that six months of recording and start over with my band in the studio. I also had to scrap some of the songs and start writing again because I had lost my way.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe song \u2018Lost\u2019 is about that. It\u2019s the worst thing ever to feel lost from your craft. It took me a couple months of playing, singing and writing at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown had four previous studio albums \u2013 \u201cDo the Best You Can\u201d in 2007, \u201cSankofa\u201d in 2009, \u201cHigh Noon Teeth\u201d in 2010, and \u201cBack-Road Highways\u201d in 2012.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Do the Best You Can\u2019 was the first record I made in Minnesota,\u201d said Brown. \u201c\u2018Sankofa\u2019 was a solo project I did. It was like the first layer of an onion. It was really cathartic. The vibe of the new album is melancholy \u2013 with some sexy and fun surprises.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video link for Chastity Brown \u2013 https:\/\/youtu.be\/cCdp9oqadYQ<\/a><\/p>\n

The show at the World Cafe Live will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff, Staff Writer, The Times A project by Ottmar Liebert can be as international as a United Nations committee meeting. Liebert, who will be performing with his band Luna Negra on May 24 at the Sellersville Theater (24 West Temple Avenue, Sellersville, 215-257-5808,\u00a0www.st94.com), has been multi-national since he was born. The talented musician […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24364,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7529],"tags":[8946,6518,8945],"class_list":["post-24362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-d-arts-entertainment","tag-chastity-brown","tag-featured","tag-ottmar-liebert"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24362"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24362\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24363,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24362\/revisions\/24363"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}