MARITA BRAKE: The Celtic Rose

Marita Brake

The Celtic Rose

© 2005 Marita Brake (825346800929)

CD IN STOCK. ORDER NOW. Will ship immediately.

SPECIAL: 30% discount if you buy more than one copy of it today!

(About MP3 downloads at CD Baby)

A panoramic, haunting meander through all things Celtic, the CD is enough to make you change your ancestory (if you're not Irish), Brake's stunning vocals are nothing short of genius.

notes

Look Out Thistle and Shamrock! (Review)

I've long been a fan of Celtic music and I suspect I am not alone in this due to the ever flowering genre that has given us Riverdance, the likes of Enya and Public Radio's ever poplular program, The Thistle and Shamrock hosted by Fiona Ritchie.
So it should come as no small surprise that this new release on BodyPlanet Records has given us a bright new shining star that would even send chills down the spine
of Ms. Ritchie.
Marita Brake's, The Celtic Rose, is a haunting, mystical meander through all things Emerald Green. What is interesting about this is that all the tracks on this CD are original, penned by Brake and her prodigious collaborator/producer, Kent Thompson. Brake's lyrics hark back to Yeats' wistful longing, pair that with Thompson's ethereal arrangements and you have a match made in heaven!
From Thompson's, The Celtic Spirit, a panoramic anthem that will make you want to change your ancestry, if you're not Irish, to Brake's stunning Arthurian vocals (think Loreena McKennitt) this CD is nothing short of genius. I predict
a few film scores in their future.
Since the Celts proliferated in such far climes as India, Africa and Spain, this album reflects that mix of world music, with skillful percusion, vocalizing, sampling and subject matter. Here is a mix of ballads, cinematic nuances and rousing rhythms. Specifically, the title track, The Celtic Rose,a mythical tale about Joseph of Arimathea fleeing the Holy Land with a piece of the cross, planting it outside Glastonbury Chapel in England, where it blooms into a sweet, smelling blood red, rose.
Equally enchanting is By The River, which Brake claims to have written about her "meanders along the Mackinaw River"
which flows through her native Midwest. Saying, in the liner notes, that she has "never set foot on the isle of emerald green" which is something hard to believe, in that these offerings could well pass for the real thing, including several visits from ghostly specters and the traditional tainted love. So many people meet their maker in strange ways that I lost count of the dead.
Brake is no newcomer to the world of music, having realeased
a previous CD, Gypsymoon, performed at Carnegie Hall, Presidential Inaugurals and the like, but this is her first time to grace this genre.
A worthy polemic from a more than worthy artist.

__Laurel Harrison

reviews

Please log in to review this album.

  • The Celtic Rose
    author: Robert Haight

    Played On Me Mother's Grave for a friend of mine who lost her mom last year... She had tears streaming down her face ..wonderful songs, wonderful voice.

  • Couleur de Rose
    author: R. J. Lannan

    Marita Brake is an outstanding raconteur whose easy on the ears music makes stories come to life. Her idealistic tales are refreshing in a world of daily bad news. The Celtic Rose is a comely distraction for the romantic in you! Couleur de Rose is an old French term that means hopeful or promising and that is just what The Celtic Rose is.

  • Clever Turns on Timeless Tales
    author: Gothic Beauty Magazine

    This charming, refreshing album takes clever turns on timeless tales and musical phrasing with effective storytelling, good musicianship and a light, luring voice. Marita's voice is at its best on the title track, where it subtly deepens, or in "By The River" where her song is both bright and full.....the mandolin is as bewitched as the protagonist in "The Bonnie Prince of Why". Romantics will appreciate.

  • It is a masterpiece!
    author: celticmp3s.com

    I don't know what is more impressive--the fact that this CD is all original by Brake and her producer, Kent Thompson or the fact that it is all so good.There is a wonderful flow to this album that many try for, but few achieve.This CD can be enjoyed for Brake's skill, for the lyrics, or for the musical arrangements. Any one of these things by itself is a masterpiece, but put all of it together and it is truly magical!

  • Light and Joyful!
    author: Kindred Spirit Magazine UK

    Light and joyful and at times, a rather, quaint and folksy style of Celtic Music. Brake has a lovely voice, and along with some fine instrumental playing these traditional sounding storytelling songs are nicely delivered here.

  • In a Run for a Grammy!
    author: John Dunphy

    Brake's latest masterpiece was prenominated for a Grammy! The Celtic Rose, all of whose songs were written by Brake, is a mystical, otherworldly work that captures the enchantment of old Ireland and Scotland. In the liner notes for the CD, Brake observes that,"these universal tales of lost love, haunting images and ghostly knights practically wrote themselves." Authors and musicians will understand this, since we know that the best work always seems to write itself, flowing from a wellspring deep within us. Brake concludes by noting that the songs of The Celtic Rose,"were written with all the tenderness, romance and creative energy that I hold within and now bequeath to you." Thank you for these gifts, Marita. We will treasure them forever.

  • How a Celtic Rose Blooms!
    author: The Hub Weekly

    Pre-nominated for a Grammy! This is a stirring mix of anthemic instrumentation and old world folk exposing an artist brave enough to express the mythic tales that dwell unknowingly within her soul!

  • Drink it down with a pint of ale!
    author: Rib Magazine

    With a stellar musical resume and an eye for the movie soundtrack industry, Brake doesn't hold back her affinity for all things Irish......Brake's voice is another wordless wonder. A concept album if ever there was one!!!!

  • Ancient tunes in a hauntingly beautiful voice!
    author: J. Jones/author of "The Island"

    My deepest thanks to this talented and generous musician.... these are her original, ancient tunes in a hauntingly beautiful voice.

  • Check this one out!
    author: Monica Levin, Portland OR

    It was great to hear so many original songs. Celtic Rose has a very calming effect and as always, it is a pleasure to listen to Marita's beautiful voice along with the nice variety of well played instruments.

  • Check this one out!
    author: Monica Levin, Portland OR

    It was great to hear so many original songs. Celtic Rose has a very calming effect and as always, it is a pleasure to listen to Marita's beautiful voice along with the nice variety of well played instruments.

  • Beguiling! Celtic with a mystical bent.
    author: Taxi A & R

    Beautiful songs with a rich, warm and beguiling vocals. The viola and harp add lovely, soulful touches. An almost Slavic melody line richly contrasts the more obvious Celtic elements. I especially enjoyed, "By The River" and felt it was an excellent piece of work, musically, atmospherically and emotionally.

  • Always Satified with Marita Brake's Music!
    author: Matt Contarino

    This is another fine working of Marita Brake giving yet another genre of style and precision only heard in her music. I recommend it highly to anyone looking for something different, not just your common boring music!

  • Celtic Rose--eerie, uncanny, haunting, ancient, timeless.
    author: Dinah Faber

    Marita Brake's Celtic Rose is firmly rooted in the ancient and timeless ballad tradition that traveled to America with the Scots and the Irish. While Brake's haunting melodies and evocative lyrics conjure up eerie phantoms reminiscent of "La Belle Dame sans Merci" (John Keats) and "The Highwayman" (Alfred Noyes), her vocals tempt comparisons with Loreena McKennitt. However, there are tonal qualities and nuances that make Brake's voice personal and unique. The poignant and powerful lament "On Me Mother's Grave," for example, beautifully showcases the range and quality of Brake's one-of-a-kind voice. Celtic Rose blooms with this and many other strange and uncanny blossoms that will hold anyone who loves Celtic music spellbound!

  • Meadow-sprite melodies tickle the ear and winter well.
    author: Job Conger for Easy on the Ears

    The production quality is first rate, paced with a mellow blend of joy and sorrow, crystal clear vocals, most with ensemble or single-instrument accompaniment, and instrumental vignettes. Lyrics authored by Marita Brake are included in the liner notes and are essential reading. Most work as well without melodies and all show dedication to Celtic mythos and lore. A cinematographer could produce a video around the music without rearranging a tune. The final track (a reprise of the opening instrumental) is a perfect coda on a multi-faceted jewel-ballad of a production. I will keep The Celtic Rose in my A List and after you hear it one time, I bet you will too.

email

Please log in to email this artist.