This is Kenio Fuke’s debut for Real Music, though the Brazilian pianist apparently has several recordings to his name. The musical arrangements reflected on Relaxing Melodies of Nature are sophisticated, stylish and subtle and it begins with the delicate “Song For Kiara” followed by the flowing “Summer’s Love”. But by the third track we are introduced to the sounds of nature which initially compliment the music but this becomes more distractive than complimentary as the album progresses. In fact, Mother Nature’s influence is downright annoying on “Enchanted Forest” and to a lesser extent on “Atmosphere”.

While the intent of the nature soundtrack was probably to bring more tranquility to the soft and beautiful music of Fuke, for the most part it took the focus off the music. The good news is that Kenio Fuke’s music is attractive enough to stand alone without any assistance from Mother Nature and hopefully next time it will just be about the artist and his body of music.