Ottmar Liebert - Winter Rose (2005)

In Spain, flamenco's purist hardliners view Ottmar Liebert the same way they view the Gipsy Kings: as a pop culture bastardization of the real thing — the real thing being traditionalists like Paco de Lucía and Tomatito. But that's a narrow-minded and foolish way of looking at it, because Liebert never claimed to be a flamenco traditionalist. The guitar-playing instrumentalist has been bringing a wide variety of influences to the table — influences that continue to serve him well on Winter Rose.
Recorded from 2003-2005, Winter Rose is Liebert's third Christmas-influenced project; the two previous ones were 1990's Poets & Angels and 2000's Christmas + Santa Fe. But saying that Winter Rose is Christmas-influenced — at least some of the time — isn't saying that it is strictly a Christmas album. Liebert puts his spin on a few traditional Christmas songs, including "Away in a Manger" and "O Little Town of Bethlehem." But truth be told, much of Winter Rose is not overtly Christmas-themed — and the disc's other highlights range from several Liebert originals to a tasteful arrangement of Tchaikovsky's "Le Café." The word "tasteful" comes to mind throughout Winter Rose; sure, Liebert can be slick and glossy, but he's tastefully slick and glossy — tasteful as a guitarist, tasteful as an arranger, tasteful in his ability to combine flamenco elements with everything from European classical to new age, folk, and pop-jazz. This CD is not among Liebert's essential releases, but it is nonetheless a pleasing, worthwhile addition to his catalog — and while Winter Rose isn't a Christmas album through and through, it is still nice to see Liebert revisiting the Christmas theme on some of the tracks.

Tracklist:

01. Pavane (4:25)
02. O Little Town Of Bethlehem/City Of Tijuana (5:19)
03. Westcoast (For Snake) (6:00)
04. Le Cafe (Arabian Dance) (6:09)
05. Away In A Manger/Fiesta 05 (4:06)
06. The Longest Night (7:43)
07. Kora/River Of Stars (7:02)
08. Les Roses D'Isphahan (6:24)
09. Bells/Coda: Christmas Eve At Friar Fripp's (5:42)
10. O Holy Night/Jon's Cello Bass (5:40)
11. A Sweet Persimmon (December 8th) (5:16)
12. Winter Blue (6:19)
13. Le Cafe (Dream Of Snow) (3:50)