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Singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Loreena McKennitt is one of Canada's most beloved national artists, a folk chanteuse, and a new age troubadour who made her breakthrough in the mid-'80s with her literate and oft-experimental focus on Celtic-tinged traditional and original material, coupled
with her haunting harp playing. As her career progressed, McKennitt began incorporating Spanish, Galician, and Arabic themes into her repertoire, culminating in a trio of career-defining albums -- The Visit, The Mask and Mirror, and The Book of Secrets -- that made her an international star. McKennitt went on a long hiatus after the tragic death of her fiance in 1998, but returned to the studio in 2006 with the acclaimed The Book of Secrets, followed by a string of EP's and concert and studio albums, with highlights arriving via 2010's trad-Celtic LP The Wind That Shakes the Barley and 2018's inward looking Lost Souls.
The daughter of a nurse mother and a livestock-trading father, McKennitt studied classical piano and voice and learned to dance in the highland style as a youngster. Her love of traditional music was
strengthened in the folk clubs of Winnipeg, which she frequented during the brief period she studied veterinary science at the University of Manitoba. Relocating to Stratford, Ontario, she continued to sharpen her skills as a composer and performer. In 1981, she auditioned for a role in the city's Stratford Festival of Canada. Although she did not get the role, she remained inspired. After reading Diane Sward Rapaport's book How to Make and Sell Your Own Recording, she formed her own label, Quinlan Road.
After releasing two albums, a nine-song cassette, Elemental, in 1985 and a collection of Christmas
tunes, To Drive the Cold Winter Away, in 1987, she had her first breakthrough with her 1989 album Parallel Dreams. With the help of a network of small independent distributors, the album sold more than 40,000 copies within four months. Its success was surpassed by McKennitt's fourth album, The Visit. Distributed by Warner Canada, the album sold over 600,000 copies (six-times platinum) in Canada and received a Juno Award, as did her next recording, The Mask and Mirror, in 1994.
In 1998, McKennitt scored her biggest hit with "The Mummers' Dance." Aided by a pop crossover
remix, the single helped propel her sixth LP, The Book of Secrets, to number three in Canada and into the Billboard Top 20, making it her highest-charting release to date. Sadly, her world crumbled that July when her fiancé, Ronald Rees, died while on a sailing trip with his brother and a family friend in Georgian Bay. Everything stopped immediately in order for McKennitt to grieve, while rumors of her retirement also circulated.
In 2002, she headlined a concert in Winnipeg for Queen Elizabeth, and in 2003 she received the Order of Canada. Two years later, McKennitt began work on her seventh studio album, Ancient Muse, which was released in 2006 and peaked in the Canadian Top Ten. Nights from the Alhambra, a live CD/DVD, arrived in 2007, followed by Midwinter Night's Dream, a collection of holiday music that included
1995's Winter Garden EP in its entirety, along with eight new recordings. A Mediterranean Odyssey was released in 2009; the two-disc set included Olive and the Cedar, an 11-song compilation of some of her best-loved Mediterranean pieces, along with From Istanbul to Athens, which was recorded live on her 2009 Mediterranean tour. Ms. McKennitt’s passion for business is matched by her passion for human rights. In 2006 and 2007 she was involved in a landmark human rights privacy case in Britain, where the courts ruled in her favour. The judgment, which was upheld by the House of Lords, has helped to advance privacy law around the world.
In 2010, McKennit issued The Wind That Shakes the Barley, an album that found her revisiting the
traditional Celtic style of her earlier work. Her tenth album, and first full-length collection of original material since 2006's Ancient Muse, 2018's Lost Souls delivered a richly detailed and alluringly cinematic set of worldbeat-infused, modern folk pieces that hearkened back to her early works. On 29th October 2019, Loreena officially announced that as of November that year, she effectively put "the music business on hold" for "an indefinite period to focus on other personal interests.
Loreena McKennitt – The Mask And Mirror
Label: Warner Bros. Records – 9 45420-2, Quinlanroad R2 45420
Format: CD, Album
Country: USA & Europe
Released:
Genre: Rock
Style: Ethinc, Celtic, Ethereal
TRACKS
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01. The Mystic's Dream 7:40
Bass, Tambura [Tamboura] – George Koller
Cello, Backing Vocals – Anne Bourne
Choir – Victoria Scholars Choir
Electric Guitar [Electric Guitars], Oud – Brian Hughes
Music By, Lyrics By – L.M.
Music Director [Musical Director] – Jerzy Cichocki
Ney [Nai], Oud – Abraham Tawfik
Percussion, Goblet Drum [Dumbeg] – Rick Lazar
Tabla – Ravi Naimpally
Uilleann Pipes – Patrick Hutchinson
Voice, Goblet Drum [Dumbeg], Keyboards – L.M.
02. The Bonny Swans 7:18
Arranged By [Traditional Lyrics Arranged By], Adapted By [Traditional Lyrics Adapted By] – L.M.
Bass – George Koller
Bouzouki, Bodhrán [Bodhràn] – Donal Lunny
Cello – Anne Bourne
Fiddle – Hugh Marsh
Guitar [Guitars], Balalaika – Brian Hughes
Keyboards, Vocals, Accordion – L.M.
Music By – L.M.*
Percussion – Rick Lazar
Producer [Assistant Producer] – Donal Lunny
03. The Dark Night Of The Soul 6:44
Arranged By [Lyrics Arranged By], Adapted By [Lyrics Adapted By] – L.M.
Cello, Esraj – George Koller
Fiddle – Hugh Marsh
Guitar, Sitar [Electric Sitar] – Brian Hughes
Lyrics By – St. John Of The Cross
Music By – L.M.
Vocals, Synthesizer [Synthesizers] – L.M.
04. Marrakesh Night Market 6:30
Bass – George Koller
Drums – Al Cross
Fiddle – Hugh Marsh
Goblet Drum [Dumbek], Udu [Udu Drum], Percussion – Rick Lazar
Guitar [Guitars], Balalaika, Electric Guitar – Brian Hughes
Music By, Lyrics By – L.M.
Vocals, Accordion, Synthesizer – L.M.
05. Full Circle 5:57
Bass, Esraj – George Koller
Music By, Lyrics By – L.M.
Vocals, Harp, Synthesizer – L.M.
06. Santiago 5:58
Arranged By [Traditional Music Arranged By], Adapted By [Traditional Music Adapted By] – L.M.
Balalaika, Guitar [Guitars] – Brian Hughes
Bouzouki – Donal Lunny
Cello, Bass – George Koller
Drums, Percussion – Rick Lazar
Fiddle – Hugh Marsh
Hurdy Gurdy – Nigel Eaton
Music By – Traditional
Vocals, Accordion, Synthesizer – L.M.
07. Cé Hé Mise Le Ulaingt? / The Two Trees 9:06
7a. Pipe Intro: Cé Hé Mise Le Ulaingt? (Who Am I To Bear It?)
Composed By, Performer [Performed By] – Patrick Hutchinson
Tambura [Tamboura] – George Koller
7b. The Two Trees
Arranged By [Lyrics Arranged By], Adapted By [Lyrics Adapted By] – L.M.
Lyrics By – William Butler Yeats
Music By – L.M.
Vocals, Piano, Synthesizer – L.M.
Cello – Ofra Harnoy
Bass – George Koller
Strings – David Hetherington, David Miller, Sharon Prater, Heinz Boshart, Sylvia Lange, Susan Lipchak, Douglas Perry, Kent Teeple, Adele Armin, Andy Benac, Marie Berard, Fujico Imajishi, Morry Kernerman, Mark Sabat
Arranged By [String And Cello Arrangement By] – John Welsman
08. Prospero's Speech 3:23
Arranged By, Adapted By – L.M.
Bass – George Koller
Lyrics By – William Shakespeare
Music By – L.M.
Vocals, Synthesizer, Organ [Organ Pipes] – L.M.
