The Light At the End of the Blues is a fascinating collection of original piano solos that contain strong elements of classical, jazz, and blues stylings as well as new age/contemporary instrumental. Genre-defying, this is Becky Archibald’s third album to date, and it is excellent! Intense and personal (and intensely personal!), Archibald’s music is often more abstract and discordant than the “norm” (if there is one!) for the new age genre, and yet the music is easy to listen to and digest - just don’t keep it in the background, as there are some terrific tracks on this CD! The liner notes are very descriptive of where the music came from, making the pieces even more alive - I love hearing where the inspiration for music comes from, and Archibald does a wonderful job of illustrating how moods, weather, experimentation, people, dreams, and even health can have a tremendous impact on ones music. I really like all eleven tracks on this CD, but a few favorites include: “From Mozart to Me,” which started with two measures from a Mozart sonata and grew from there; “The Artist” started with an audience’s choice of the first six notes of a song and was titled for the artist who was sketching as Archibald composed; “Yearning” was a collection of musical ideas that Archibald had been saving, and she worked on putting them together the day after 9/11 - the pain and anxiety of that time is very clear; “Adieu,” my favorite track, is a melancholy and bittersweet piece that really speaks to me; and “Jaggedy Rag” is a fun and upbeat piece where Archibald purposely broke the rules Scott Joplin set up for himself in composing his own rags. There isn’t a weak track on this album, and it is a CD that I will return to to refresh my ears from time to time. The Light At the End of the Blues is available from www.beckyarchibald.com, cdbaby.com, and amazon.com. Highly recommended!