Loreena McKennitt Book Of Secrets CD

Canadian singer/composer Loreena McKennitt is self-managed, self-produced, and the head of her own internationally successful record label, Quinlan Road. In a recording career spanning nearly two decades, McKennitt's "eclectic Celtic" music has won critical acclaim worldwide and gold, platinum and multi-platinum sales awards in fifteen countries across four continents.Born in the province of Manitoba, Canada, Loreena moved to Stratford, Ontario, Canada in 1981, where she still resides. She has acted and sung in, and composed music for, Stratford Festival of Canada productions ranging from The Tempest (1982) to The Merchant Of Venice (2001).Her recording career began in 1985 with the album Elemental. In the fledgling years of her label Quinlan Road, Loreena ran its operations from her kitchen table, selling recordings by mail order and producing her own concert tours across the country. Quinlan Road's catalogue is currently distributed around the world by Verve (US), Universal Music (Canada and other territories including Italy and Spain) and a number of independents including Keltia Music (France) and SPV (Germany).

Loreena McKennitt began her career as a New Age pop chanteuse, steeped in Celtic folk mysticism and possessed of an airy, ethereal voice. Over the course of her career she has dabbled to varying extremes in the pop format, but she remains true to the spirit of the traditional balladeer on THE BOOK OF SECRETS. With the aid of top-flight musicians like Danny Thompson and David Rhodes, she weaves a web of fanciful, wispy folk-rock that's not afraid to be beautiful as it pulls listeners in with it's comforting hypnotic qualities.

Personnel: Loreena McKennitt (vocals, harp, kanoun, accordion, piano, keyboards); Brian Hughes (vocals, acoustic, electric & classical guitars, bouzouki, oud, guitar synthesizer); Donald Quan (vocals, viola, keyboards, tabla, timba, esraj); Stuart Bruce (vocals); Aidan Brennan (acoustic guitar, mandola); Martin Jenkins (mandocello); David Rhodes (electric guitar); Martin Brown (acoustic guitar, mandolin, mandola); Robin Jeffrey (Victorian guitar); Hugh Marsh, Osama (violin); Joana Levine (viola de gamba); Caroline Lavelle, Anne Bourne (cello); Nick Hayley (rebec, lira da Braccio, serangi); Jonathan Reese, Iain King, Andy Brown, Chris Van Kampen (strings); Bob White (tin whistle, shawm); Danny Thompson (acoustic bass); Steve Pigott (keyboards); Nigel Eaton (hurdy gurdy); Manu Katche (drums); Paul Clarvis (snare drum); Steafan Hannigan (bodhran); Rick Lazar, Hossam Ramzy (percussion).

Entertainment Weekly (11/14/97, p.93) - "...wanders even further into the musical woods on her seventh album, singing about 'riding o'er the land' and the 'fountain of forgiveness' to misty, Celtic-renaissance-fair pop. For all her New Age pretensions, though, McKennitt knows a hook when she hears it..."
- Rating: B