OL holiday show, Alexandria VA, 28 Nov. 05

From an e-mail sent to me by María José:

Adam - if you'd like, feel free to post this to the olnet blog (I think that's what it's called?). Wonderful show at the Birchmere, of course. Pura magia. Shalom! :)

Ma. Jose
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What is it about this music? That's what I've been asking myself since first stumbling upon the online OL NPR interview unexpectedly in the Fall of 2004 and then, intrigued, sending away for La Semana from this SSRI website that I had never heard of. So much has happened in my life in the past 12 months and both OL's and Jon Gagan's music have been part of my soundtrack, elevating my mood even more when I was already feeling on top of the world and enveloping me with warmth when I felt as if I was about to jump off a cliff, plus every other mood in between. So to say that I was very much looking forward to the show at the Birchmere is an understatement.

The music began to whisk me away with the first few familiar notes. All the silverware clanging on dinner plates, conversations around me, and whatever other noise existed simply disappeared. OL's and Jon's fingers move so deftly and quickly on the strings, making it all look so easy. The string arrangements are skillfully woven into the melodies, as if they had always been part of the songs. I wondered if Davo had a treasure chest behind him with all kinds of wonderful percussion instruments - what child wouldn't love to rummage through it? I did not really pay much attention to which songs they played or the names of the songs, I was simply immersed in the music. The band got two standing ovations, one before the encore and another one afterwards.

I have been thinking that there should be a word to describe each of the following: (1) playing OL or Transit at night while being engrossed in a book, fighting the inevitability of sleep to read just one more page and listen to just one more song, only to drift off to peaceful slumber with the music still going, and (2) the ability of this wondrous music to transcend whatever you happen to be doing at the time. Now I think that there should also be a word to describe what it feels like to hear the band play live.

Ottmar Liebert in NY, Part I: Tour 2005

Maybe it is because my life is so much busier now than it was then, but there seemed to be less anticipation for the arrival of Ottmar's annual New York shows this year than last. I just didn't have time to spend all day for the past few weeks thinking about how excited I was to see him perform again because I had (and have) so much on my plate. Which I suspect is why I am currently buried under the avalanche I was hit with last night and especially tonight--I was pretty much completely unprepared for the sheer depth of performance I have been fortunate enough to experience.

By the way, notice how this post is a Part I of a series, as with my posts on religion. This post will focus primarily on the strictly musical aspects of the three shows that I saw tonight and last night. Details of my day yesterday in the city before and after the show with Boris and his father, meeting Ottmar last night and tonight, and pictures will come later.

Read no further, by the way, if you have tickets to a future show on this tour and wish to know nothing about the setlists, the song arrangements, etc. For a "spoiler-free" review, see Heather's blog, or one of a few posts of Boris's blog (A, B). So this is a very interesting tour. For background, I've now seen him in the fall of 2003 once at B.B. King in the city, and then twice at the same venue just under a year later, and then twice last night at B.B. King and once tonight at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center. The addition of a string quartet in place of one of the percussionists, as can be expected, completely transformed the entire feel of the show. I am currently debating what route to take with this review, whether I should explain factually or simply gush about the feelings with which I am overflowing, and have decided I will simply do both. For starters, exact setlists are at the end of the post. And yes, I know what I am talking about, these are exact, I was pushy and ended up getting the string quartet's setlist last night and Ottmar's tonight. hehe.

So as I was thinking they might, the guys started with Silence. It was very little surprise when he strummed that first chord and although yes, Boris and I may have been the only ones in the venue who from that first note recognized the song (and at least I was probably the only one who expressed barely-restrained unadulterated glee immediately thereafter), and were certainly among only a few who had even heard it, it made the song no less amazing. Someone who had heard nothing of Ottmar in the past would have easily been blown away. This song, it has been and continues to be truly fascinating and an absolute treat to watch its evolution so closely as Ottmar has allowed us to. Remember when he first posted the earliest version of the song, right after his trip to the Zen center when the song was still a swirling mix of ideas coming together on one solo guitar? That version of the song grew on me during my trip to Israel, but it was not until the Listening Lounge opened up and a live rendition of the song, with which Ottmar seemed (and still seems) to enjoy opening shows, came on. The end, when he tremulos with Jon's bass playing over and then starts to rasgueado through to the end of the song is absolutely stunning. Mind-blowing. So throw a string quartet with Jon Gagan arrangements into the mix and what do you get? A budding Ottmar Liebert classic, I think. The quartet does not hold back at all during this first song in showing off their stuff. Some soft playing to tease you as Ottmar gently tremulos, and then those percussive sounds that we have grown to love to build the suspense right as he launches into the energetic strumming to finish off the song, and the string quartet dives right in. Boris said it sounded Irish and I certainly now see it as having sounded quite Celtic. A simply dazzling performance that elevates that song to yet-greater heights, an expression of absolute joy in its purest musical form. I really hope after the tour Ottmar will put a recording of this song in the Listening Lounge because it is something you simply cannot miss. I took a couple of videos tonight with my camera during that song and they are, quality aside, gorgeous, so I will e-mail Ottmar and see if he minds if I make them available either publicly or by request. In any other show this first song would even be the set's climax. Absolutely...impossible to describe, really, just amazing. This song is making its way into history. I am so excited to hear it on the album and I fervently hope that Ottmar decides to keep all these added pieces--the string quartet's arrangement--when he does begin to record up close.

The string quartet added so much. How a song like Duende del Amor, as if it were not already astounding live, can be lifted up with those strings is just beautiful. During the chorus, Ottmar played the rhythm guitar and the strings fiercely played the melody. It was how the song was meant to be, I think. It is probably fairly safe to say that Duende at Westhampton was the highlight of all three performances.

Yet the crowd only really erupted, as can be expected, during the next (and last) song. Ottmar played two notes and he had to stop, smile, and start over because the audience was so loud. He played those two notes again as a tease and then finally started playing the rest of the song. I don't think any of the readers of this blog need me to say that this song was Barcelona Nights (Boris: Barcelona Afternoons?). To be honest, this is the one song (except maybe Sao Paulo) that he plays as a staple at all of his shows that I just couldn't really get as much into. Maybe I am just so used to it that it doesn't seem as special, or maybe his material since is just so much better (although if that's the case, I don't think most of the people at the shows this weekend would have agreed!). I have to say, though, even though I was probably in pre-school the last time they were together, seeing Ottmar, Jon, and Davo play that song together again (the string quartet did not come back out for the encore) was really something special. It seemed like it was just like old times for the three of them. Such chemistry together, such emotion.

I couldn't get enough of Davo this weekend, and I talked to him a couple of times to tell him that. While I'll be the first to admit that I would have loved to see some more Robby and His Magic Kora, as Ottmar said in his blog, they couldn't have found anyone better to fill the position than Davo. More of a rock drummer than a new age drummer (to compare, say, Davo and Ron, both of whom are fantastic). He put so much flare and energy into the performance, and yet just like Ottmar and Jon, he made it seem so easy, so effortless.

All in all, the three shows were just astounding, and especially at Westhampton. Ottmar had some choice words to say about the B.B. King venue, and after seeing him play in the theater, I could understand why. The sound was just so much better, the acoustics were incomparable. Every note the strings played was so crystal-clear, such a beautiful sound. Even the tone of the electric guitar (especially the tone of the electric guitar) was amplified ten times by that venue, it was the most amazing thing. And I think it made the band perform better, too, because not just the tone of the music but the music itself felt so much better. I have seen Ottmar perform now six times during three tours and I think this tour (and tonight's show at Westhampton) could take the cake. It wasn't the pure holiday show (Winter Rose/Opium CD2/Leaning into the Night/etc.) that we might have expected but with the string quartet it was Ottmar Liebert as he has never performed before and may never perform again. It's an experience that must be treasured for a long time to come.

So I think...have I talked enough? More is to come :)

11.25.05 - B.B. King Blues Club & Grill, New York City, NY, Show 1

01. Silence: No More Longing (For Genpo Roshi and the Kanzeon Sangha)
02. La Luna (Lunatic Love Letter)
03. Heart Still/Beating
04. Carrousel
05. Bells/Coda: Christmas Eve at Friar Fripp's
06. Snakecharmer
07. Pavane
(Talk + Intro Band)
08. Duende del Amor
--------------------------------------------------------- (Encore)
09. Barcelona Nights

11.25.05 - B.B. King Blues Club & Grill, New York City, NY, Show 2

01. Silence: No More Longing (For Genpo Roshi and the Kanzeon Sangha)
02. La Luna (Lunatic Love Letter)
03. Heart Still/Beating
04. Carrousel
05. UnderWorld/Le Café
06. Snakecharmer
07. Pavane
(Talk + Intro Band)
08. Duende del Amor
--------------------------------------------------------- (Encore)
09. Barcelona Nights

11.26.05 - Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center, Westhampton, NY

01. Silence: No More Longing (For Genpo Roshi and the Kanzeon Sangha)
02. La Luna (Lunatic Love Letter)
03. Heart Still/Beating
04. Carrousel
05. Bells/Coda: Christmas Eve at Friar Fripp's
06. Snakecharmer
(Talk)
07. Brazilian Tango ("Por una Cabeza" by Carlos Gardel)
--------------------------------------------------------- (Intermission)
08. Pavane
09. UnderWorld/Le Café
10. Morning Arrival in Goa
11. Santa Fe
12. Sao Paulo
(Intro Band)
13. Duende del Amor
--------------------------------------------------------- (Encore)
14. Barcelona Nights

Ottmar Liebert @ Westhampton Beach PAC

My Dad and I arrived early in Westhampton with the only train possible in the afternoon which was around 2pm and gave us plenty of opportunity to explore the town by foot. After having walked about 2,5 miles we had found downtown and the Performing Arts Center rather early. Not wanting to be considered as stalkers, we looked for the beach. In downtown Westhampton I asked a couple how to get there and they looked at me rather astonished when learning that we wouldn’t have a car. They described another walk down two roads for about 1,5-2 miles which now made us smile instead and indeed 20 minutes later we were there. I wanted to walk barefoot on the sand and feel the waves hitting the land but I can tell you that it was the hell of cold. The afternoon we spent in the local Simon’s Café which in compariosn to the usual Starbucks offers a better quality and comfortable armchairs.

What a show @ Westhampton Beach PAC followed in the evening!! How emotionalizing, how quick and easily the spark hopped over from the group to the audience and back. Ottmar and his band themselves seemed to enjoy it right from the beginning. The PAC is a local theatre that in late autumn and winter nonetheless attracts a lot of the inhabitants from the surrounding towns. It was sold out and the atmosphere was fantastic. The stage set up was kept simple, no candles, no cloths in the beack of the stage. It’s just the band, Ottmar, Jon and Davo together with string quartet sitting in a half bow, enlighted by ever changing coloured lights (Steve Stephen). When taking pictures during all the songs and creating a mosaic out of them, you in the end would see all the colours of a rainbow.

The string quartet adds a welcomed classical touch to Ottmar’s music, very suiting for this calming time of the year. Personally I enjoyed the sound of real instruments very much. I would have loved to see Jon Gagan play upright bass as well, but have to admit that the Laklands create a soft and warm tone. Jon’s play is amazing in every respect, his ability of taking himself back, of offering the basic colours (together with the string quartet) of an acustic painting to which Ottmar and Davo then add the details.

Of all the songs Ottmar and the band played Bells and Morning Arrival in Goa impressed me most. Bells from the new Winter Rose-album started with Carla Ecker playing a violin solo and for some time it’s like a conversation between her instrument and Ottmar’s guitar. The song is beautifully smoothing, even more in the live version and Davo Bryant’s hand clapping that sets in in the middle of the songs only adds to it.

I had chosen the beginning of the second part of the show to take some photos from the back of the theatre where I could move without disturbing people. The starter of the second leg, Pavane already made it difficult for me because no matter that I already had liked this song before very much, to witness it played live is exceptional. It starts with Ottmar and Jon and this always will be amazing to hear: one guitar and one bass, nothing more, creating such a deep soundscape.

Finally I had to drop taking photos when with Morning Arrival in Goa not only one of my all-time favs came, but also, together with Bombay and Lush/Albatross the first tune that ever seduced me to Ottmar Liebert’s music. It was a moment that makes you shiver. I was standing in the back of the theatre and could only listen, yes, and watch the band play. Amazing with which means Davo created the ambient sounds!!
Davo Bryant’s simple kept percussion set up is wonderful. He's just sitting on his cajon on the right side of stage, most of the time using nothing more than his (taped) fingers to play (cajon, cymbal). Remarkable also how he plays with brushes a tambourine placed on a djembe with a towel inbetween to soften the sound (La Luna). Davo is a wonderful percussionist of Luna Negra. When asked by Adam, he himself called it a special "chemistry" between him, Jon and Ottmar, and Ottmar said so as well in one of his blog entries. All three of them have such a tender kind of playing their instruments, even when the music gets rougher (Duende del amor), it seems as if the fingers would hardly touch the strings or the cajon, as if they were flying over them. Ottmar laughed when hearing that, saying that even his mother once told him to look more in pain when playing...

While it's still valid what I wrote about Barcelona Nights the night before at B.B. King’s in NYC, I have to correct myself in so far that the spectators in Westhampton recognized four songs right away, the three others being Heart Still/Beating, Santa Fe and Duende del amor. Others got intense applause afterwards, to name two: Carrousel and Pavane. No need to mention that the band received two standing ovations that night.

Carrousel, by the way, has yet become an Ottmar Liebert classic, no?! The Tangos rhythm gets into the bodies of the listeners and makes them want to dance. It also offers a nice opportunity for some cool percussion and Ottmar’s hand clapping makes it quite Spanish. What made people shout out spontanously were two parts during Duende del Amor and Barcelona Nights when it was Ottmar and Davo chasing themselves to climaxes. Most of you have seen this before, Ottmar playing rasguados, watching his percussionist, not being able to stop himself from smiling.

Duende del amor by the way was started in a rather unfamiliar way. First I thought it would be Winter Blue from the new Winter Rose album in a sense. But Ottmar denied that, said that instead it would be a new Bulerias he's working on. But he could satisfy me in that way to assure me that Winter Blue indeed has an underlying Bulerias-rhythm. Later we chatted a bit about the hypnotizing effect of that rhythm as well as of some other songs of Winter Rose such as Pavane. Oh, and we also agreed on the high remix potential of Winter Blue.

Very unfortunately the band had to leave early for the scheduled show in Sellersville the next day. Instead, Adam’s Mum took us to Jamaica, not a bad equivalent either. ;)

Ottmar Liebert @ BB King's, NYC

Don’t ask me wether the show was good or not because this is a question that is beyond my capability to answer. Named after the opening track Ottmar plays I tend to regard this Holiday tour, very likely because it contains the very first shows I ever attended, as the “No more longing”-Tour. The feeding of this desire is so overwhelming that it’s hardly possible to get hold of other emotions with the mental means I have.

Since Adam has already ranted about the show (and here) I won’t cover the songs he wrote about, he’s done that perfectly. Speaking of Adam, of course this first concert meant far more to me than “only” going to see the show. It brought the meeting of different worlds in the lobby of Milford Plaza, written signs became spoken sounds, electrons became a vivid movement, and my English turned out not too bad at all to talk with Adam. Going by Metro, passing by Adam’s spare time working place, having lunch at Frida’s café, dropping my Dad at Rockefeller Center, desperately trying to oversee Starbucks were in short the things we did over the afternoon. At 5:30 p.m. we stumbled into BB King’s.

The story about the “blue ticket” I already told in my blog. Both Adam and I had no idea that we had been put on the guest list. Of course I hoped for exchanging a couple of words with Ottmar but all in all my mind was freed from illusions. This was a strange new world for me and everything happening would have a good chance of leaving an imprint in my memory. When waiting outside BB King’s I was turning my head wondering where the busses might be (they had to be parked in New Jersey), pleased how many people were queuing to see Ottmar (where had they been in the online world?), there was one guy waiting next to me coming from Florida who had just ordered Ottmar’s latest CD (La Semana, he meant) at amazon but not listened to it yet, Adam and me joking about the BB King’s guys not knowing who we were (how dare they!?! :)), Adam disappearing into and appearing out of the crowd every now and then on the search for Cari. It must have been close to LSD-like impressions: alive was what my imagination never expected to be, refusing to hold still, moments popping out of the night as chewing gum bubbles, a few overground breaths on a submarine ride.

The waiting in the cold didn’t matter, we were placed at a table right at the stage together with a nice couple from New Jersey anyway. So that was it, I thought, the infamous venue I had read many things about, that I saw in those brilliant pictures Kiyomi took last year. Broad as can be, I’d name it, sitting at the table listening to Adam chat with our neighbours (about his participation in the Westinghouse competition), watching people streaming in, observing the club’s stuff move inbetween. My feet were cold, what I finally had realized, but again it didn’t matter since I was busy enough trying to make my awareness understand that there was the stage, the Devoe, the Laklands, that a cute waitress named Krystle (Crystal?) had already asked for the third time if I’d like to order something receiving some basic information instead by Adam about his photo pass and all access badge.

Two concerts scheduled on one evening already had made clear that a whole set wasn’t to be expected. But what would they play? And what leave out? From what we knew from reading Ottmar’s blog, we speculated about some quieter tunes, hoping for an Opium track for sure. My guess was “Bombay”, “Yasmeen” and “La Luna” and with Thanksgiving having passed just the night before we wondered what “Winter Rose”-tracks would be played. I felt certain about “Bombay”, remembering that Ottmar had mentioned that song himself some months back and recorded it anew for iTunes earlier this year. “Yasmeen” would have been the suiting Opium-track in my opinion, already existing in a classically played version (confer “Leaning into the Night”).
That both guesses were wrong Adam and I could clearify inbetween the two shows when having grabbed a setlist to see what was cut. As a more experienced Ottmar Liebert-concert goer maybe I would have been disappointed in a way the schedule forced the guys to be short. But I didn’t care. Maybe the drug could have been sweeter, more seducing, but it still was the drug.

Ottmar was so nice to replace “Bells” with “UnderWorld/Le Café” during the second show, a thing I told myself he did for those being able to realize it: Adam and me. Thank you.

The BB King’s venue is not favoured by Ottmar for acustic reasons and I suppose as well because people are having dinner first and being served in the meantime which always causes a certain level of noise. Repeatedly loud voices were heard from the direction of the kitchen which is not very fitting for the reception of Ottmar Liebert music. The string quartet had a tough time hearing their own playing. They had pulled the in-ear monitors out of one ear to be able to listen to their own instrument. But the spectators didn’t seem to be bothered. Everybody had turned the eyes towards the stage and the applause the band received was enthousiastic. The later could be noticed especially at the beginning of the encore: two notes and the “yeah”s and clapping were hard to be calmed again.

The two songs that impressed me most performed live during this first of my two evenings with Ottmar Liebert were “La Luna” for the wonderful and amazingly played percussion by Dave Bryant (using brushes and a towel placed between tambourine and djembe) and “Bells” for its intense violin parts that Carla Ecker played and the combination of violin/guitar playing. The string quartet fits very nicely in this song.
Bells and La Luna reached a new depths for me live which was a nice surprise because both so far hadn’t ranked among my personal favs.

After the end of the second show, things had to happen quick. A third act had been scheduled later that night at the club so all were busy deconstructing the set up, among them the musicians themselves. Ottmar was so kind to kneel down at the front of the stage for a couple of minutes to chat a bit but we soon left because we were supposed to meet again the next day “in a much cozier place”. Upstairs we stumbled upon Cari, Ottmar’s assistant, which was another welcomed and warm get-to-know. So finally the signature on the costumns declaration on the packages from SSRI got a face as well as that uninterruptedly ordering guy from far away Bavaria.

Adam and I left, parted soonafter for some time, to take a nap, dreaming.

Toronto Concert November 23, 2005

Ottmar 3
Originally uploaded by Just Me Too.

As the man himself said:

I would suggest to anyone still wondering whether they should experience our upcoming Winter Rose tour - buy a ticket, book a flight or train if you have to, but check this out. This is going to be very special!

An amazing night. The string quartet was an incredible complement to Ottmar's music and the sound quality was everything you could ask for. Davo on percussion performed some jaw-dropping solos....and Jon & Ottmar? Well, what can I say? They were everything I expected and more! The clarity of the guitar was...I'm out of adjectives.

As you can see by the photos we were front row, almost dead centre of the stage. It's over much too soon.

To see all my photos go here.

Winter Rose @ Culture Court

Always interesting to read review.

Winter Rose @ SSRI Store

Winter Rose, Ottmar Liebert's latest album, is available for purchase at the SSRI Store now.