After a long and illustrious career in music - including being half of the award-winning duo, Al Jewer and Andy Mitran - Andy Mitran has released his first solo album, More Now Everywhere. Subtitled “Private chambers of Presence,” Andy created the music over a two-year period and plays a wide variety of instruments that include pianos and keyboards, harp, guitars, synth, percussion, bass, brass, marimba and so much more. Only one track on the album (“Memory Road”) includes another artist - Kraig McCreary on guitars. Otherwise, Andy does it all! Quoting the artist:

“These pieces move through quiet inner spaces. Each track opens a different chamber of the present moment, revealing how presence shifts, unfolds, and lingers inside us all. This is not music to follow, but a place to enter. Step inside. Be here.”

The album includes eleven original tracks with a total playing time of a little more that an hour, giving the music plenty of time to work its magic! I usually have no trouble staying awake and focused while reviewing even the most ambient and soothing kinds of music, but this album is so warm and relaxed that I fell asleep several times while listening to it! I’m thinking that maybe it should be required listening for many of our world leaders and decision-makers!

More Now Everywhere begins with the very “fluid” “Shape Shifting” that gently but consistently changes form throughout the piece. There is an amazing YouTube video that illustrates the music beautifully. “Ocean and Sky” is where “boundaries dissolve” and Andy utilizes a fascinating variety of instruments and gentle sounds to tell the story. “Breakers” is somewhat more rhythmic and melodic, keeping the overall feel of the music very relaxed with piano, bass, drum set, Rhodes electric piano, marimba, guitars and synth. The music makes it easy to imagine a quiet surf running up the beach and then receding back into the ocean only to do it again and again. “Emergence” is a favorite with its varied instrumentation and gently mysterious mood: “From quiet depths, a form gradually reveals itself, shaped by patience, attention, and time.” In the liner notes, “Isolata” is described as “a solitary space where separation and connection exist together, offering stillness without isolation.” Slow, smooth and very peaceful, the instrumentation is again varied. “Memory Road” features Kraig McCreary on guitars and has the gently swaying rhythm of a peaceful slow dance in the moonlight - also a favorite! I really like “More Than Once,” too, with its more exotic flavor, feelings of optimism and the message that “repetition carries new meaning each time.” If you haven’t melted into a puddle yet, “The Woven Path” ought to do it! It’s music at its magical best, suggesting serene images of whatever makes you calm, relaxed and ready to move forward. “The Last One” is, indeed, the last track on the album and is introduced as “a quiet conclusion that settles without finality, allowing the album to gently come to rest.” Ahhhhhh….

More Now Everywhere is available to stream and download from Amazon and AppleMusic/iTunes as well as many streaming platforms including Spotify and Pandora. Very highly recommended!