Ray Manzarek & Roy Rogers

What do you get when you put former Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek up alongside guitar wizard Roy Rogers (not the cowboy star)? You get BALLADS BEFORE THE RAIN, an evocative, reflective duo release that features Manzarek's piano interacting simply and effectively with Rogers' guitar. The bill of fare is all-instrumental, and includes some Manzarek originals, a Satie piece, and yes, a couple of reinterpreted Doors classics, “Riders on the Storm” and “The Crystal Ship.” Even some 40 years after the Doors, Manzarek's angular, visceral style is still immediately identifiable, but when it crosses paths with Rogers's unearthly slide work and gutsy twang it ventures into new territory, a crossroads where jazz, New Age, and classical meet.