Ottmar Liebert brings to bear a number of traditions on this recording, most notably the time-honored music of Spain. Drawing heavily from flamenco, Liebert creates a body of music that is at once forward-looking yet deeply rooted in the Spanish heritage.
LA SEMANA is made up of many elegant compositions and all of them feature the guitar. "Cocteau" is a brooding modal work that invokes the ethos of Spain the best. A pair of guitars dominates this mix; one guitar plays a passionate and dissonant melody while the other coolly provides a static harmony. Overall, the two guitars create wonderful tension and release as Liebert's composition gently unfolds. Another tune, "Echoes of a Caress" combines Flamenco with an overtly synthetic keyboard trumpet and percussion section. What makes this track so creative is that Liebert does not attempt to fool the listener, but rather, he highlights the disparity between the organic guitar and the digital accompaniment. It is this kind of musical judgment that sets Liebert and his band, Luna Negra, apart from many of his contemporaries. Here technology is used to further the art, not to obscure it.
