Strum und Drang

His father is half Chinese, his mother is Hungarian, and he has lived in America for more than a decade—all of which makes German import Ottmar Liebert the perfect conduit for transnationalism in the nineties. "I think it is time," says the thirty-year-old guitarist, "that people stop arguing about their differences and see the common beauty of things." On his debut album, Nouveau Flamenco, and now on Poets and Angels, Liebert plucks what he preaches. Building on the thumping rhythms of flamenco, he adds licks of jazz, salsa, rock, and blues to make a sound that is laid-back and label-defying. "I don't care what people call it," he says. "I just want them to listen."

—JIM RASENBERGER