Sometimes the spreading of musical influence is like a virus that infects a person who then passes it along to the next. We’ve talked about how My Musical Evolution has been nudged into different directions by seemingly small pebbles in the road. Here is another example.
My love of Loreena McKennitt’s music is due to bagel crumbs in a computer keyboard. Sounds silly or unbelievable doesn’t it. I was at work managing the IT department for a company here in northeast Indiana. The CFO called me complaining that her keyboard was not working properly. I went to her office to investigate. She was playing what I now know to be Book Of Secrets in her computer’s CD player. The song that was on was Marco Polo and as I examined her keyboard I listened and was drawn into a an ancient world of spices and mystery.
I asked the CFO about the CD and she enthusiastically told me of her account of accidentally hearing it at a friend’s house. I feel fortunate that a pair of random events resulted in my revelation. With a can of compressed air, I blew about a bagel’s worth of crumbs out of her keyboard and it worked again.
That night by brother-in-law Dan and I went to the mall to search for Book Of Secrets. I figured that something this obscure and wonderful would have to be found at Musicland if at all. We got there and they didn’t have it. On a whim I decided to check that place where they sell porcelain dragons, Indian head dresses, incense and those sticks that sound like rain when you tip them over. There it was and it was mine. This is a fantastic album and one you should definitely add to your collection.
It opened up a new channel of world music and even added more value to my Enya CD’s as the Celtic influence became more desirable to me.
Prologue
The Mummer’s Dance
Skellig
Marco Polo
The Highwayman
La Serenissima
Night Ride Across The Caucasus
Dante’s Prayer