Like many in demand musicians and composers who launch successful independent recording careers, pianist David Mauk has been extraordinarily busy and prolific in his “civilian life” outside new age music in the 14 and a half years between his second album, the ZMR Award winning (Best Groove/ Chill Album) second album Ground Swell (2010) and Piano with a View, his deeply immersive, gloriously cinematic and beautifully composed and performed latest full length collection.
Over that span, David has written and recorded a whopping total of eight albums worth of material that was used as background environmental music in several artifact exhibits, three of which were released in museum gift shops and sold a total of 12K plus units. New age piano enthusiasts who embrace the hypnotically infectious, sweeping inspirational glory of Piano with a View gems like the opener “View from a Balcony” and the lively, exuberant stroll down “8th Avenue” – not the mention the shimmering, meditational reflection “Forest View” - will no doubt be asking for some of these “museum pieces.”
Those are a just a few of the items on Mauk’s multi-faceted slate of projects. Another was a musical he and his wife and creative partner, Brenda Mandabach wrote based on H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine, which debuted at the New York Musical Festival in 2017 and is currently being improved and developed further for future possible productions. Then there’s his longtime day job, playing 12-18 hours a week on stage at his dueling piano gig at Harrah’s Las Vegas – which he credits for helping hone his performance skills.
One of the most intriguing song titles on Piano with a View is “Headstrong Butterflies,” a passionate soulful and elegantly rendered ballad whose lush atmospheric vibe is perfectly reflective of the unique reverb aesthetic that serves as a lush, enduring caress around all the pieces on the album. The name comes from the unique retro synth pop duo he and Brenda (the lead vocalist) created during the pandemic – Mauk’s first stab at pop songwriting since the 90s!
The duo wasn’t just a one shot Covid-era wonder. They’ve followed their dynamic 2022 debut Vegas to Mars with a handful of singles, including a dramatic ambient rock twist on “Eleanor Rigby” in 2024. If you’re as jazzed about Piano with a View as I am and want to experience more of David’s diversity, listen to “Headstrong Butterflies” and then check out some of the duo’s tracks. David credits his collaboration with Brenda for helping get his writing skills back in the shape necessary to composer, record and now grace the new age world again with his melodic talents. He says he pays more attention now to song structure than he did in the past, working as many subtle variations as he can throughout his songs.
Explaining the project’s origin, inspiration and reasoning behind the stunning reverb, David says, “The album was originally going to be titled Piano on a Balcony, because I've lived in high-rise apartments many times and always love the view. Ultimately, that seemed a bit limiting, and I realized the current title was more open ended. The songs are either inspired by a particular view from my past, or a song I would love to play in the ideal setting. I also put a ton of reverb on the piano, because I like to incorporate a visual element into the sound of the music. I've always been fascinated by music in environmental spaces, especially locations with a lot of natural reverb, like a large church or a room with alot of echo.”
Sometimes the term “musical visionary” is overused when it comes to describing transcendent works, but in David’s case, we can use the words quite literally. Majestic time of day pieces like the spritely, sun-filled dance “Morning View” and the haunting, relaxing “Nightfall I” and “Nightfall II” help start and conclude our day with unique musical moods to which we can attach our own personal visuals. “When I write, I’m usually drawing off the physical aspects of my concepts,” David says. “If I’m writing a song inspired by a high-rise apartment, I’m including different aspects of the view in my musical description of the scene. Melodies can represent birds flying through a scene, or flashing neon billboards might come to mind when I'm writing about New York, or shits in wind current when I'm imagining a high-rise view of the lake, on in my case, Lake Erie, where we lived several years in the 90s.”
Like many new age solo albums, Piano with a View is best experienced as a 45-minute full-on immersion rather than as single tracks curated on a playlist out of context, with the listener assigning his or her own feelings, images, fantasies and memories to each tune as they flow seamlessly. Yet there are a few pieces that have special meaning to the composer. David calls the aforementioned “Headstrong Butterflies” the mission statement he and Brenda have as a couple set to music.
Following the haunting, seductive “Air Streams” is the bright, luxurious and hopeful “Beyond the Horizon,” which he wrote inadvertently many years ago as an air transportation based musical theatre piece (that he ultimately set aside). “The theme probably ended up inspiring the overall theme of the album because it was the first song I developed for the project,” he says. “I always picture flying above the clouds when I play this song.” Down on the ground, he says “8th Avenue” was a one take improvisation piece he wrote with midtown Manhattan in mind, inspired by “our five weeks spent in a high-rise next door to Studio 54 in 2017.”
Overall, the truly epic Piano with a View is not just a shoo-in for awards, SiriusXM airplay (as his previous albums received) and year-end top ten lists and accolades, but the beginning of the next phase of David Mauk’s exciting journey in new age music. Here’s hoping for many more of these wondrous musical vistas in the near future!
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