It features Coryell on acoustic and electric guitars, along with three of the four members of the band Oregon, who were also recording for Vanguard at the time: Ralph Towner appears on guitar, Glen Moore on bass, and Collin Walcott on percussion.

The album includes improvisations on two compositions by the French Baroque composer Robert de Visée, an adaptation of Maurice Ravel's "Pavane pour une infante défunte" (here translated as "Pavane for a Dead Princess"), and four Coryell originals.

[3] In a review for AllMusic, Robert Taylor noted that the album features "a more reflective and relaxed Coryell," and commented: "His tendency to fall back on his chops was always a weak spot in his playing, but it is thankfully absent here.

Both of the 'Improvisation' pieces are highlights in Coryell's career, which along with the other beautiful selections, make this one of his best, and certainly most overlooked, recordings.

"[4] The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz called The Restful Mind "a very special record that manages to avoid all the pitfalls usually associated with crossover projects that aim to marry jazz and classical music," and wrote: "This is Coryell at his thoughtful best and a long way removed from the Hendrix-inspired wailer of former years... it comes across as fresh and as inventive as ever.