Our Review
What a blast of cool air I feel, as Ottmar Liebert's brand of flamenco Christmas washes over me, beginning with Deck the Halls. This is immediately followed by an awesomely stylized version of Angels We Have Heard on High, intermixed with High on Hope, the first of several of Liebert's own compositions on this CD. What a beautiful combination of old and new, in a flat picked flamenco purely Ottmar Liebert.
Oh, My! How have I not stumbled upon this CD until now (who has considered himself such a smartypants and knowing about all the right Christmas stuff!)? But it is a wonderful kind of comeuppance, because now I know what Ottmar Liebert can do with holiday classics. He makes the holidays his own, with several more of his own songs and beautifully romantic interpretations of traditionals.
Surely, there is not a more romantic Christmas record, surpassing even the orchestration of John Tesh, to my way of thinking. But it is a much more masculine romance, suggesting adventure and high spiritedness, and youthful exuberance. I really like the energetic tone of this entire CD, the forceful articulation of each note. His mixture of traditional with his own music, highlighted perhaps by We 3 Kings (of Orient R)/Santa Fe X-mas, makes this a very special CD, and a candidate for the Essentials list.
Buy this record and tell me it isn't so.
--Richard Banks
(Reviewed in 1998)
No More
Ottmar Liebert
Poets & Angels
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Label: Higher Octave
Length: 53 minutes
Genre: New Age
Release: 1990
Track List
| Song Title |
|---|
| Deck The Halls |
| Angels We Have Heard On high |
| Poets + Angels |
| Little Drummer Boy |
| 1st Nowell |
| Sheppard's Nite Watch |
| Island Xmas |
| Festival (of 7 lights) |
| Jingle Bells |
| O X'Mas Tree |
| Starry Nite (March of Kings) |
| Morning Glory |
| Silent Nite |
| We 3 Kings (of Orient R) |
| O Holy Nite |