Pianist/composer Greg Maroney has re-recorded and remastered his debut recording, Songs of the Water Rose on a 9’ Yamaha grand piano. The CD has been re-released with new artwork and much-improved sound quality. Here is my review of the original album with a couple of updates:

Songs of the Water Rose is Greg Maroney’s first album, and was composed and recorded when he lived in California. It is interesting to go through a composer’s work in reverse order as I have done with Maroney’s, as often there is a very big change in styles as the artist grows and matures. “The Sentinel,” was the first of Maroney’s CDs that I reviewed, and remains a favorite, but his debut is also quite good. As with his other releases, there is a combination of quiet pieces and some that are bigger and more turbulent. Of the quieter pieces, I really like “Simple Pleasures” with its warm sense of contentment and gentle flow. “Alexander’s Calling” is also very beautiful in a joyful, peaceful kind of way. My favorite piece, though, is the bigger and more powerful “Midnight Awakenings.” It feels very much like those times when you wake up during the night and your brain just will not shut down and let you go back to sleep. Several moods and trains of thought run through the piece from musings to worries and turmoil. Maroney lets the themes build and then trail off quietly, and then they start in again - much as those thought processes do during a restless night. This is a really effective piece! Greg Maroney is certainly among the best of our contemporary pianist/composers,and I hope he’ll get the exposure he needs to become more widely known. Songs of the Water Rose is available from gregmaroney.com, CDBaby.com, and Amazon.com. Highly recommended!