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THE BENTLEY PROJECT, Kind as the Shade

Jonathan Widran

People of every age and era know the overwhelming feeling. While it seems that in life, there is never a shortage of daily tragedies, outrages and injustices to overwhelm us and make us feel helpless, we often forget that there is always so much love, kindness, compassion and beauty in the world if we dare to peek and then immerse behind the sense of doomsday in the headlines.


The opportunity to share kindness is always there for those of us so inclined, and that is what what classically trained harpist/composer Theresa Bentley and guitarist Mark Bentley – the husband and wife new age instrumental phenomenon collectively known as The Bentley Project - are committed to exploring on their long awaited second album Kind as the Shade.


Both soothing to the soul and soaring in hope and divine possibilities, the mystically rapturous nine-track collection is an ambient tone poem and expression of love for Mother Earth deeply inspired by the famed 20th Century American poet John Neihardt (1881-1973) and his stunning spiritual-minded, six stanza poem “The Sound My Spirit Calls You,” which first appeared in his 1907 collection A Bundle of Myrrh. Theresa says she was naturally drawn to the work’s concepts of both nature and sound, its fresh combination of colorful phrases intensely beautiful to her. Ironically, it sat on her grand piano for about a year, softly “nudging” her to create dynamic, relevant, soul-calming and affirming music that would bring its lighthearted musings to the attention of contemporary audiences.  


In the Fall of 2023, the concept for Kind as the Shade slowly took shape, starting with Theresa’s idea to pull titles from the poem’s individual lines and culminating in her desire to work with Mark to compose a musical tone poem telling its story. On a deeper level than her ongoing passion for Neihardt’s words, Mark, a onetime Professor of Guitar at Missouri Western State College an Park University, was in a traveling guitar duo for the Missouri Arts Council and his partner was John Neihardt’s grandson. Also of note, the poet’s “The Song of Hugh Glass” was the inspiration behind the 2015 Oscar winning Leonardo DiCaprio film The Revenant.


“The title of the album comes from a line in the poem itself,” Theresa says. “I felt any one of the songs could have been a title but the concept of the relief we feel in the shade on a hot day just struck me deeply as the world is in such turmoil. The poet was brilliant in seeing it as a kindness to us. We have a desperate need today for kindness in all forms and a comforting relief. For me, comfort almost always means something musical. That is really what the album is about. Musically turning to nature to find peace, comfort and a sense that everything is ok. I want to give listeners a sense of a relaxing feeling, like, ‘Aww, I am better for listening.’ I am also a deeply spiritual person and draw strength from the beauty of nature. This album is my expression of it.”


Complementing and harmonizing with the gentle swirl and dance of Theresa’s multitude of harps, synth keys and piano and Mark’s lilting acoustic guitars are cellist Dana Woolard and Bolivia native Amado Espinosa on the Quena Andean Flute. The harpist has known Woolard for many years and had played with her in various orchestras. Her stellar contributions to The Bentley Project’s lilting 2023 single “Eventide” prompted Theresa to invite Dana to play a larger role on the current project. Theresa felt that the haunting, meditative piece “Dance of the Rose” called for his hopeful, soaring flute to intertwine with Dana’s dark, mournful cello to reflect the dual nature of life – and our opportunity to find joy even amidst the darkness and sorrow.


In many of my writeups on epic albums like Kind As The Shade, I point out that they’re sometimes best experienced as a continuous flow in lieu of experiencing each piece as an individual triumph of expression. For this project, Theresa does that for me, saying, “It’s really hard for me to choose one or two songs (as perfect entry points) because I see it as a complete 28- minute song with nine movements. I wanted the titles (all taken from lines in Neihardt’s poem) to generally reflect the story but it was more important that the music flowed as a musical story. One could think of the tone poem as earth events over 24 hours. Everything from from the poem.”    


So while listeners should follow The Bentley Project’s lead and listen straight through, hopefully over and over for maximum simultaneous relaxation and heart and soul awakening, a few tracks bear special mention. The spaciously dreamlike, seductive title track “Kind as the Shade” feels like a message from the heavenly realms, capturing the idea of everything the Bentleys tried to do while gracing us with Theresa’s ethereal vocals sharing glorious poetry inspired by the original poem and including a wondrous solo by Mark.


They invite us to their imagination-filled realm via the opening track “Distant Thunder,” which presents harp and cello in a dreamy world at night, Theresa says, “cozy warm, barely awake, you hear a thunder in the distance. Who doesn’t love that comfort when something so powerful is going on but you are peaceful, safe and enjoying the sound?” That’s pretty much the aesthetic of the whole album, offering a safe space to retreat and immerse in positive divine energy (both inside and outside ourselves) as the world rages on. Another standout is the gently lilting “Earth’s Fragrance Remembered (Eolyn),” a two-plus minute slice of tender mercy that showcases Mark’s intricately lovely tone on guitar.

As Theresa says, “He is truly world class and is able to bring a deeply personal feeling as we musically tell our children that when you hear nature, know that it is also our whisper telling them we love them. Another layer is that most of the tracks on Kind as the Shade are dedicated to someone we love.”


She echoes everyone who will listen when she says, “I love this album! I believe the music is intensely beautiful and induces a deep sense of calm. It is full of our love of music, nature and the people I love the most. My greatest hope is that it gives 28 minutes of comfort and joy in a world that needs love.”

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