MARBECKS RARE: Opium - Wide-Eyed / Dreaming (2 CD set)

German guitarist, composer, and producer Ottmar Liebert rose to success in the 1990s with his Spanish-influenced, easy listening instrumental music that he initially described as "Nouveau Flamenco." Born in Cologne, West Germany, Liebert spent much of his youth traveling around Europe and Asia with his parents. After picking up the guitar at age 11, he developed an early interest in flamenco music, although it was a career in rock that would initially bring him to the United States. After plying his trade for a few years in Boston's early-'80s rock scene, he eventually settled in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where began to develop the instrumental guitar sound that would soon vault him to the top of the new age charts. A self-released album called Marita: Shadows and Storms, under the name Luna Negra, was released in 1989 and sold at a local Native American art gallery in Santa Fe. The album found favor on local radio and soon drew the interest of Higher Octave Music, which re-released it the following year under the title Nouveau Flamenco and bearing Liebert's own name. It was an immediate success, eventually going double-platinum in the U.S. and propelling Liebert into the spotlight as a new age star. Over the coming decade, he would sell millions of albums and earn Grammy nominations for releases like 1991's Borrasca, 1993's The Hours Between Night & Day, and 1996's Opium. (AllMusic)