My favorite is mellow jazz, but sometimes I listen to a couple of Bolivian CDs I bought a few years ago. They feature pan pipes and some sort of guitar or something and have some slower, soothing pieces, some more up tempo and the few that have words don't distract me because I can't understand the lyrics. :)

Ruth Fazal does some lovely violin music that is not New Age or Classical. It is just lyric free and calming. I use it a lot in the counseling I do. I recommend it highly.

I'm a smooth jazz lover as well. Each artist has a unique style... If you have music channels on your cable system it's a good place to start to see whose style you like. I can be cool with almost anyone but Sade and Anita Baker, both make me cringe, just something about the tone of their voices.

Though I must admit it's Enya's Watermark CD I go to for my bad times. It soothes me like nothing else.

Smooth jazz for me too! Up here this genre has it's own station and is very popular. It's sometimes a bit roudy depending on the artist, but in general it's easy listening!!

We also have a lot of stations just referred to as "light". They're good too! I personally love oldies stations!! That's because I'm old, I suppose! LOL...(no really!). But that is for days when I'm feeling upbeat and can boogie down in my mind to Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan. Man, I could listen to that stuff all day.

See, now ya got me goin! I'm going to go turn on the radio!

Yes. We have a 'cool jazz' station where I live which I like. I
also agree with the cable channel selection if you have that
available.
I listen to 'Sacred Drum Visions" by Dave and Steve
Gordon which has some gentle flute music in the background.
Also, I love anything by R. Carlos Nakai, and ;Our
Beloved
Land' with Keola Beamer is my favorite. This does have
Hawaiian chanting on it but I found the sounds very soothing.

I love the music with nature sounds added. In some stores they have those displays that you can push a button and hear a sample of the music.

Yes! Pacific Suite by Dan Gibson - Solitudes also a fav.

Thank you all for your thoughtful comments and suggestions!!

Michael Giacchino has done some wonderful movie soundtracks...they are on youtube. Many are quite gentle.

It's not music, strictly speaking, but when I want something calm and soothing, I go to YouTube and listen to ocean wave or other water sounds. I know that doesn't work for everyone.

I have a CD that I just love called "Kiss the Earth" by Johannes Linstead. It's mainly guitar, kinda Spanish and both relaxing and uplifting..

Glad to see you back!

Hi Denise ~ I find Hawaiian slack key guitar music very relaxing. RosaQ mentioned "Our Beloved Land" by Keola Beamer ~ he's my favorite slack key guitarist. He has several CDs that are just instrumental. I can listen to them and drift away ~

Here's two of his songs from "Moe'uhane Kika: Tales from a Dream Guitar" and one from "Mauna Kea White Mountain Journal" so you can get a sample of his style:

https://youtu.be/xtawSgeS30g

https://youtu.be/pPwguD25kQE

https://youtu.be/LoCE5Wief58

Personally I like nature sounds, but that might not be your cup of tea. One thing I recommend is one of the Amazon Prime Music play lists (if you have access). There's one called "Classical for Reading." This one is very calming, easy-going, and not distracting. I put it on a lot.

If you like Celtic music, then there's a line of Celtic Romance CDs (I found them at Target) that are really nice. The nice Celtic sound, very few lyrics if any, and calming.

Try "Sleeping in Harmony with the Universe" by HarmonyHarp. It is electronic and harp and very soothing. You can find it at harmonyharp.com.