VA: A Better Life
Mindful Music Records

It's early, I know, to be name-checking recordings for a 2020 year-end list, but I've little doubt A Better Life will be among textura's compilation selections. The double-CD collection appears on Mindful Music Records though it might just as easily be on Heart Dance Records, not only because it includes artists associated with the label but also for emphasizing a humanistic spirit and soothing style of music.

The 114-minute release is an encompassing presentation pitched as an ‘An Introduction to the Mindful Music Association,' with all twenty-six tracks by members of the MMA. With founding board members Andy Mitran, Al Jewer, and Sherry Finzer at the helm, the Chicago-based not-for-profit organization aims to improve mental health, stress the benefits of meditation, and induce wellness through its efforts. The settings range from pretty, pastoral pieces arranged for strings, acoustic guitar, and woodwinds to calming electronic-ambient soundscapes. Regardless of differences in arrangement and mood, common to all is a peaceful character designed to encourage contemplation. Call it New Age if you wish, but other genres come into play, too, folk and electronica among them.

There's nary a dud in the bunch, but some pieces do register more strongly than others. Lisa Pressman's “Sea of Tranquility” strikes a particularly lovely note in its enveloping blend of piano, ambient synth textures, and ethereal wordless vocals. In its stately merging of strings, piano, and woodwinds, Jennifer DeFrayne's “Equanimity” achieves a heightened level of poignancy that distinguishes it from others. Harp, guitar, strings, and keyboard textures come together marvelously in the mystery-laden minuet “Finding You” by 2002 (Pamela and Randy Copus and their daughter Sarah). Gary Schmidt's “Inside This River” opens in brooding piano-and-strings mode before turning plaintive, the material resonating deeply for its sweetly nostalgic ache. Female vocal declamations lend “Heaven's Gate” a grandiose quality, with SEAY's wordless chants dramatically wrapped in layers of piano and synthetic washes.

Whereas the vibrato-rich low flute of Heart Dance Records' Sherry Finzer casts subtle illumination on a deep drone pulsing through “Breathe,” a similar-sounding flute drifts gently across softly tinkling chimes in Al Jewer's “Dream Time.” Electric and acoustic guitars combine for three lilting minutes of gentle beauty in Ken Verheecke's “Be Still,” acoustic guitar likewise prominently featured (gently rhapsodic violin also) in Neil Tatar's touching folk reverie “When I Was Young.” On the electronic front, swirling space ambient soundscapes by Meg Bowles (“Berceuse for a Star Child”) and Jim Ottaway (“Lavender Moons”) add a different flavour to the collection.

Elegant, eloquent piano-centric settings by Lynn Tredeau (“Afternoon Reflection”), Michelle McLaughlin (“Pure Joy”), Robin Spielberg (“Take the Time (Learning to Knit)”), Gina Leneé (“Art of Life”), Pam Asberry (“Now”), Lisa Swerdlow (“Mindful Moments”), and Mary Lydia Ryan (“Gentle Sunshine”) bring consistent uplift to the presentation. Jewer and Mitran collaborate on an aptly titled meditation called “Levels of Peace,” and Karen Biehl caps the release with the synthesizers-heavy piano-based lullaby “Meditation on a Moonlit Lake.” Robert Linton, Tom Eaton, Ryan Judd, Joseph L Young, David Peoples, and Joseph Akins also enhance the compilation with their contributions.

One of the Mindful Music Association's intentions for the A Better Life project is to target educational institutions in the hope of benefiting elementary and high school students. While that's a laudable goal, one imagines the compilation's music would surely benefit any sentient beings were they to be exposed to it. Displayed on the album cover are the words “Relax, be calm, and find peace,” and certainly the generally introspective music contained within does much to aid the realization of said goal.

March 2020