Kenny Kleinpeter is the scion of the prominent Baton Rouge/River Parishes dairy family who, apparently, walked away from a lucrative corporate career two years ago to pursue his music full time.

As the organist/pianist for several Baton Rouge area churches, his background is steeped in sacred music which, to a large extent, is brought to bear on this effort. The pieces on this CD—actually more like a collection of musical vignettes—have an almost church-like serenity to them. Some of the titles reflect Kleinpeter’s abundant love for all things Louisiana—“Louisiana Nocturne,” “Spirits of Manchac,” “Dance of the Woodies” (wood ducks), “River of Blues” and “Under the Oaks.”

His style is definitely New Age, with the solo piano against a background of electronically reproduced guitars, strings, drums and other computer generated instrumentation. Kleinpeter must have one hell of a studio setup in his home to create the sounds he laid down on these tracks and it’s all very clean and pure sounding. He calls it “relaxing instrumental music.” I call it mastery of the latest available space age technology. But, regardless of whatever handle is put on it, it’s still a soothing balm to the turbulence our world is currently facing. This is definite candlelight/fireplace music. Romantic, lovemaking music. And descriptive, in some notable instances.

“Last Dawn” is evocative of the imagery conjured up by the first light of the morning. “Lost Child,” a sympathetic ode to the children of divorce, has heavy, moody overtones that convey the sadness of a broken home. The one disappointment comes with “River of Blues.” We are led to believe, by the liner notes, that the song, like the river, starts out calmly, builds to a stormy crescendo (simulating a flood), then calms down again. Unfortunately, we never get that crescendo and we’re left wondering why.

Overall this is a nice, pleasant recording that serves its purpose well. It deserves a place in the record collections of those whose souls are at peace or would like to be.