This album of mellow music targeted at soothing harried listeners, subtitled "Music for Self-Healing," stands out from the pack of similar discs because of the imprimatur of
Andrew Weil, the popular guru of a healthy and integrated lifestyle. The collection was selected and arranged by
Joshua Leeds, a psychoacoustician whom
Weil has designated as an "Expert of Music and Healing." The CD features the
Apollo Chamber Ensemble, a trio of oboe, cello, and piano, a small ensemble for this type of album, which usually uses orchestral performances. The musical selections are typical of this kind of release -- slow movements from chamber, orchestral, and keyboard works, mostly from the Baroque and Romantic eras -- arranged with varying degrees of expertise. The pieces are appropriately serene, but the recorded sound is so in-your-face -- bright and crisp, nearly strident in the louder passages -- that it requires lowering the volume considerably to achieve a subdued, mellow effect. The performances by the
Apollo Chamber Ensemble are dutiful, but the miking is so unforgiving that the tone quality is sometimes unpleasantly harsh. The album could induce its intended psychological tranquility if the volume is turned way down and the treble is minimized.