Nora Jones - Sunrise

Zamfir - Pan Flute

If you have never heard Zamfir, you are really missing something.


This is by far one of his best CDs. It includes "The Lonely Shepherd" (which can be heard in the movie "Once Upon A Time In America") as well as "Theme from Summer of '42" and "Run To Me".

This is one CD I can recommend to anyone who loves music that will take you away!

Menopause, the Musical

LADIES (and their husbands, if they be so daring), a must see for anyone over 40 is "Menopause, the Musical". This has to be the funniest "musical" I have ever seen. Be forewarned, though. Make sure before the show starts to empty your bladder, as you will laugh so hard you could well wet your pants!

Menopause The Musical® (MTM) all started in a tiny 76-seat perfume-shop-turned-theatre in Orlando, Fla., on March 28, 2001. Four women at a Bloomingdale's lingerie sale with nothing in common but a black lace bra and hot flashes, night sweats, memory loss, chocolate binges, not enough sex, too much sex, and more. A joyful parody of 25 re-lyricized classic baby boomer hits, the 90-minute show features such chart-toppers as "I Heard It Thru the Grapevine; You No Longer See 39" and the disco favorite "Stayin' Awake! Stayin' Awake!"

I saw it with the Los Angeles cast. However, the touring cast is entirely different.

Click here for a schedule of cities that it will be touring.

The Fureys & Davey Arthur

Amazon.com
The Fureys & Davey Arthur was one of the most popular Irish folk music groups of the 1980’s & 90’s. The band consisted of the four Furey Brothers, Finbar Furey (uilleann pipes, whistles, vocals), Eddie Furey (guitar, mandolin, vocals), George Furey (guitar, vocals), Paul Furey (accordion) (passed away in 1992)and Davey Arthur (guitar, banjo). They popularized many Irish songs now part of the Irish repertoire: Sweet Sixteen, Red Rose Café, and Green Fields of France, The Old Man, Gallipoli and Steal Away. Finbar Furey composed The Lonesome Boatman for the steel whistle, and as recorded by The Fureys, it is one of the most evocative whistle tunes of all times.

The only CDs I have of the Furey's is The Essential Fureys. I can honestly say that I love each and every one of the tracks. This CD is mostly ballads and Irish love songs instead of their usual pub songs.

This is one of my top recommended CDs.

Ronan Hardiman - Celtic Classics

Amazon.com
I think for my first recommendation of Celtic Music, it should be Ronan Hardiman.

My favorite of his CDs is Celtic Classicss II. I put that CD on and close my eyes and just float away to Ireland and Scotland.

Two tracks on this CD - Amazing Grace and Scotland the Brave - just blow me away. I have a surround sound system and I swear when Scotland the Brave is playing, I can actually feel the pipers come from behind me and march around me. It is amazing!

Ronan also records often under the name Shanon. Below is information about Ronan that comes from his myspace.

In 1990, Ronan Hardiman left his daytime job as a teller with the Bank of Ireland to pursue his dream of one day becoming an acclaimed composer.

He quickly became a sought after bright, new talent with the Irish television and film industry. By 1996, when Michael Flatley commissioned him to compose the music for "Lord of the Dance,", Hardiman's list of credits and awards were impressive as they were international, with major commissions from the BBC and PBS (US) completed.

The spectacular global success of "Lord of the Dance" propelled Hardiman's career into overdrive. Flooded with offers from around the world, Hardiman chose to accept an offer from Universal Records to write and record a solo project. In March 1998, Hardiman released "Solas," his first solo CD.

Quickly achieving gold status in Ireland, "Solas" went on to enjoy enormous success in the US and went top ten in the US Billboard New Age Top 20 Charts. In January, 1999, "Solas" spawned a top ten hit single in France entitled "Elle Donne," a french version of "heaven" taken from "Solas."

2000 saw Hardiman working with Michael Flatley to create the hugley successful Feet Of Flames Dance show which toured the globe culminating in an open air performance to 100,000 people in Budapest.

In 2001, Hardiman released his second solo album 'Anthem' which again charted in the top ten Billboard World Music charts and continues to be a strong seller.

In 2002, Hardiman teamed up with Celine Dion and Rod Stewarts producer Chris Neil to work on material for New Zealand operatic prodigy Hayley Westenra. Her debut album 'Pure' has since sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide.

In 2003, Hardiman's profile as a prolific successful songwriter increases as Russell Watson records 'La Fiamma Sacra' for his million selling album 'Amore Musica,' written by Hardiman and legendary lyricist Frank Musker (whose credits include Josh Groban, Queen & Il Divo).

In 2004, classical crossover sensations 'Amici Forever' record 'So Far Away' (again wrtten by Hardiman and Musker) and La Fiamma Sacra' for their No.1 album 'Defined'.

In May 2004, Hardiman again teamed up with Michael Flatley to compose the score for the new dance spectacular 'Celtic Tiger.'

In June 2005, 'Celtic Tiger' performed to an estatic invited audience of 6000 in Birmingham (UK) NEC. The event was filmed for DVD release later in 2005. In July 2005, 'Celtic Tiger' performs to a crowd of 25,000 as the European Preview of the show takes place in Budapest Hungary.

Celtic Music

Over the next few weeks, and perhaps months, I will be providing information for anyone who loves Celtic music. I am an avid fan and have found many wonderful artist that, to many, have not yet been discovered.

Some you may recognize, others not. But I highly recommend the artists and hope you will search them out and hear their music.

My interest in Celtic music came about as a result of my work on my family tree.

Growing up, I only knew that I was part German. I never connected with that part of me. Then in 2000, my Mom came for a visit and for some unknown reason, brought me the information that was in the family Bible her parents had.

The genealogy bug bit hard! And as anyone who has worked on their family tree knows, it becomes an obsession.

Through many nights of staying up until the wee hours and drawing my cousin in to help, we managed to get a lot of names we never knew about. But one of our ancestors line going further back escaped us. We kept running into brick walls.

Finally we managed to break through the wall and boy, oh boy, did we ever discover a gold mine. And I do not mean that in the sense that we found ancestors who had money or title. I mean it in the sense that I discovered who I am.

My line goes back to Scotland and then Ireland before immigration to America. At last, I knew who I was. That is truly what I relate to.

So I go to Irish and Scottish Festivals as well as the Renaissance Faires. My granddaughter, whose father is 1/2 Hispanic, loves going with me. This is a side of her she thoroughly enjoys.

Most of the music I recommend is instrumental, however, there are a few vocals I also recommend.

As I add to my list, I hope you check them out and enjoy. Occasionally, I will throw in one that is not at all Celtic, but that is still a favorite of mine.