today laura nyro would have turned 54. here's a passage from http://www.lauranyro.com/ that i'd like to share with you.
''Through the years Lauras albums have reflected various musical explorations from simple, down-home singing, to wild orchestrations resembling abstract art. Robert Hilburn of The Los Angeles Times, wrote about Laura, Her contributions have paved the way for the rise of the urban female singer-songwriter. And Jon Pareles amplified this in The New York Times: If not for Laura Nyro the music of Rickie Lee Jones, Joni Mitchell, and Teena Marie might have been very different. When she released her first album in 1966, Nyro was a nineteen-year old who linked high flown poetry to the ecstatic emotions of soul music, and her singing mixed the pure tones of a soprano with the throbs and swoops of gospel and jazz. The music she made, noted Concerts East magazine, was a building block for an important group of contemporary artists, particularly in the way they cross- bred jazz, R&B, and pop, while poetically exploring the range of their emotions. Her voice has been described as a blues soprano, a rich, charcoal-smudged alto, a soul singer who soars - she can make you feel it deep down. Daily Variety wrote, Nyro still has an astonishing voice, a kind of melting, pure-toned soprano, loaded with feeling, that seems drawn in equal measure from some private inner cathedral, and the doo-wop streets of her youth. '' dear laura, you, joni and rickie have taught me all i will ever learn and know. i wish i could been a better student. i love you, laura. wallyK
