Friday, December 10, 2010

Anne Roos and Stairway to Heaven on the Celtic Harp

Leave it to Anne Roos to bring us something completely unexpected on the Celtic harp. Both of her two new CDs break from traditional harp tunes and take us to the world of modern popular music.

In “Blue Jeans: Modern Pop on the Celtic Harp,” Anne plays her most requested songs from the 1950s to present. These are the tunes we seem to inherently know and can’t resist singing and humming along with.

The CD is packed with 22 songs originally performed by greats such as Sting, Elvis Presley, the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Stevie Wonder, Dolly Parton and James Taylor to name a few.

“Unchained Melody” and “Killing Me Softly” are particularly well-suited for the Celtic harp. For a real treat though, her version of Metalica’s “The Unforgiven” and “I’ll be There,” the song made famous by a young Michael Jackson, may turn up as surprise favorites.

For “Velvet: Timeless Standards on the Solo Harp,” Anne turns her strings to modern classic tunes from Broadway and Hollywood. Hearing how effortlessly they seem to transfer to the Celtic harp serves as a testament to the skill of some of the finest songwriters of this Century… including Gershwin, Porter, Rodgers and Mancini, combined with the skill of Anne Roos herself.

With 25 classics, Anne is on her way to translating the American Songbook to the Celtic harp. And who doesn’t stop in their tracks upon hearing the first chords of “Strangers in the Night,” “When I Fall in Love,” “As Time Goes By” and “That’s Amoré!”

Get a new perspective of Celtic harp music with a listen to “You Belong to Me,” “Ain’t Misbehavin’” and “Love is Here to Stay.” Or give yourself a real challenge… try not singing along when you hear Anne play “Moon River.”

Both CDs are available at Anne’s website www.CelticHarpMusic.com.

This is originally posted on Irish Fireside Blog and Podcast

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