Album Notes

TOP 10 REASONS TO BUY "REIMAGINE"

10) 76 minutes of memorable classical piano music.
9) To compare Greg & Liz’s two versions of Danse macabre - their straightforward arrangement and their "remix."
8) To confront a wilderness of façades, styles, stories, and instincts.
7) The deluxe, digi-pack packaging; the full-color, mountaintop photos; the music; the videos; the bold graphic design.
6) To listen to Greg & Liz tear apart their infamous arrangement of Piazzolla’s Libertango; feel the racing heartbeats, the physical friction, and the charged chemistry.
5) To support Greg & Liz.
4) To hear Saint-Saëns’ “The Swan” like you’ve never heard it before. Greg & Liz immerse the melody in pianistic ripples of sound, drifting through a landscape of dreamy timelessness.
3) It makes the perfect gift for any music listener.
2) The bonus DVD; Anderson & Roe's YouTube videos in 30 high-resolution frames per second.
1) “The Sacrificial Dance” from The Rite of Spring. A young virgin sacrifices herself to the Gods of Spring by dancing herself to death; it’s hard-core, visceral, and thunderous music that will leave you breathless.



CONSIDERATIONS FOR LISTENING...

Everything old becomes new again. Reaping inspiration from all facets of life, Greg and I approach music via our personal perspectives and make it our own. As you listen, you make the music your own, and this is the glorious cycle of the musical experience.

How have we reimagined the music on this album? The kaleidoscopic Blue Danube Fantasy takes the elegance of the Viennese waltz as a point of departure and plunges headlong into the passions that undulate beneath the dance’s restrained façade. In The Cuckoo in Sussex, we transplant Daquin’s “Cuckoo” (dating from 1735) to a new environment of dreamy timelessness. In some pieces we stray altogether from our sources; for example, The Cat’s Fugue is an irreverent ditty loosely based on Scarlatti’s famous theme. In others we honor the spirit of the original but recreate the music according to the strengths of our instrumentation, as in The Swan, where we immerse Saint-Saëns’s melody in pianistic ripples of sound.

Does The Rite of Spring, written during the unrest preceding the First World War, resonate with you in our current times? Every time we play or listen to these pieces, their meaning is renewed. Music surpasses definition, so reimagine the music and discover what rings true to you.
- Liz

Music is a collaborative effort. Even the lonely pianist centered on a concert stage finds himself collaborating with both the composer and his audience, connecting in magical and unexplainable ways with the humanity around him. As a duo, Liz and I collaborate as composers, performers, and creators, and of course, as friends. It’s an interaction that yields awesome adrenaline and joy.

Bruce Mau stated, “The space between people working together is filled with conflict, friction, strife, exhilaration, delight, and vast creative potential,” and we couldn’t agree more. Can you hear the sexual conflict between the wise elders and the young sacrificial virgin in The Rite of Spring? What about the exhilaration of solidarity heard in Danse macabre and its remix? – the skeletons from all stations in life are now dancing together, unified by death. And speaking of dance, just think of the racing heartbeats, the physical friction, and the charged chemistry between a pair of dancers while you listen to the Blue Danube Waltzes or Libertango. Humanity lies in the space between people; we find it to be an overwhelming source of inspiration and energy.
- Greg

(For extended historical and analytical program notes written by Greg & Liz, or to discuss this CD, please visit www.andersonroe.net.)



GREG ANDERSON and ELIZABETH JOY ROE have been described as "Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers transposed from the dance floor to the keyboard" (The Southampton Press). Together they bring a fresh and visionary approach to the concert stage, dazzling audiences with their adrenalized performances, inventive programming, original compositions, and refined artistry. They have performed as a four-hand and two-piano team across North America and presented innovative concerts in nearly every New York City venue imaginable: from Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and Steinway Hall, to children's hospitals, HIV/AIDS homes, and cancer centers. The duo has appeared on MTV's Total Request Live and NPR's From the Top.

Greg and Elizabeth both received their bachelor and master's degrees from The Juilliard School, where they left an indelible impression. The duo was featured on several prominent Juilliard events; they jointly presented for members of the United Nations, performed repeatedly for the board of directors and donors of the school, and replaced John Williams as composers on Juilliard's "Cinema Serenades" concert. Additionally, the two directed the groundbreaking project "Life Between the Keys," a concert that involved the entire Juilliard Piano Class of 2004. A live performance by the Anderson & Roe piano duo is included on the “Sounds of Juilliard” CD celebrating the school's centennial year. -- www.andersonroe.net --