Season of Lights... Laura Nyro in Concert
By Laura Nyro
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Track listing
- A1 The Confession 3:22
- A2 And When I Die 4:52
- A3 Upstairs by a Chinese Lamp 3:52
- A4 Sweet Blindness 3:45
- A5 Captain St. Lucifer 4:34
- B1 Money 6:12
- B2 The Cat-Song 3:05
- B3 When I Was a Freeport and You Were the Main Drag 3:43
- B4 Timer 3:32
- B5 Emmie 4:03
- Total length: 41:00
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5 Issues
- Release view [combined information for all issues]
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Season of Lights... Laura Nyro in Concert [p] 33 rpm, Gatefold, Live
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Season of Lights: Laura Nyro in Concert Gatefold, Live, Promo
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Season of Lights...Laura Nyro in Concert Bonus Tracks, Live, Remastered
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Season of Lights Bonus Tracks, Remastered
5 Reviews
I honestly regret not being able to be more enthusiastic about this than I am. See, Laura here was in pure smooth jazz mode, and while the re-arrangements here sometimes work--I'm particularly fond of "Sweet Blindness" as a piano ballad--they mostly make a bunch of interesting songs sound deceptively boring.
EDIT: Listened to this extended version of this on Spotify and it's actually way better than I gave it credit for. They do a Latin jazz version of "Timer"!
EDIT: Listened to this extended version of this on Spotify and it's actually way better than I gave it credit for. They do a Latin jazz version of "Timer"!
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The live album is a bit of a letdown. The artist isn't exactly in peak form as she plows through her back catalogue, but the band is professional to a fault. The arrangements sound like the typical accompaniment by studio cats who sound impressive but lack empathy with the singer. The set list is impressive, and probably would've been even more so had it been the double album that Nyro originally pitched to Columbia. I've always felt that studio album that precedes this live album, Smile, was a bit forced, Nested was much better and more considered compositionally, and the fact that she performs only two newer songs on the whole set (and doesn't even get to any of those tunes until side two) seems to lend credence to the notion that this was a low period of creativity for Laura. I love Nyro and I like other live performances I've heard by her, just not this one very much
Published
Laura Nyro's first live album, _Season of Lights ... Laura Nyro in Concert_, was released by Columbia in the summer of 1977 at a time when Nyro was in the midst of a surprisingly fruitful and productive comeback.
She quit the music industry in 1972 following an impeccable five-year purple patch that incorporated Brill Building pop (_More Than A New Discovery_), a marvellously inventive and original blend of metropolitan pop, soul, R&B, and Broadway (_Eli and the Thirteenth Confession_), smoky mercurial singer-songwriter epics (_New York Tendaberry_), sensual soul (_Christmas and the Beads of Sweat_), and covers of Motown classics (_Gonna Take a Miracle_). For the next three years, Nyro lived a relatively tranquil life in Connecticut with her husband, Vietnam veteran David Bianchini.
Upon their divorce, Nyro re-entered the pop fray, recording her "comeback" album, _Smile_, in 1975, and embarking upon her first full band concert tour following its release in early 1976. She then went on to record another studio album, _Nested_, released in June 1978, before another lengthy five-and-a-half-year absence. So, _Season of Lights_ captures Laura Nyro in the throes of her second sustained patch of creativity.
A double LP set was originally planned, but Columbia issued an inferior single vinyl version. The two-LP set is superior and shows a number of facets to Nyro's music. Backed by a strong cast of musicians including John Tropea and Andy Newmark, the sound is sensual and jazzy; it is light and strong, and reminiscent of Nyro's contemporary Joni Mitchell's mid-1970s exploits. Guitars, vibraphones, congas, and Nyro's own piano, with her distinctive syncopated style, are the main features of the sound. She is in good voice throughout; the unexpected screeching and impassioned wailing of records like _Eli_ and _Tendaberry_ have been toned down - she still hits the high notes, such as on the epics "Upstairs By A Chinese Lamp" and "I Am the Blues" - but it is a richer, more soulful instrument on show here, if not as immediately striking.
The band is intense on songs like "Money," a fast-paced guitar-driven jewel from _Smile_ that opens the double vinyl set and is one of the album's finest moments, with an excellent performance from Nyro and a tight, jazz-rocking arrangement. Elsewhere, songs from the depths of Nyro's catalogue are radically reworked - "Sweet Lovin' Baby" from _New York Tendaberry_ is a sexy, sinuous, groovy jazz number, not really recognisable from the reasonably stark, freeform piano arrangement on the 1969 album. "And When I Die," from _More Than A New Discovery_, is similarly slow, sensual, and funky in the 1976 version, light years away from the impassioned gospel of the 1966 original. Nyro also tones down "Sweet Blindness," from 1968's _Eli and the Thirteenth Confession_, so that the focus is on her and her piano - and the pace is certainly _much_ slower than the rollicking original.
There are also some intriguing band jams on the album. "Captain St Lucifer" features an extended jazz jam at its climax, as does "The Cat-Song," while the faithful rendition of "Smile" soon gives way to the trippy psychedelia of "Mars." The band version of "Timer" also features a lengthy instrumental section. Elsewhere, the arrangements become relatively pared down - the new song "The Morning News" is simple and elegant, with an unfussy arrangement that spotlights Nyro's lyrics about modern corruption, while solo piano versions of "When I Was A Freeport and You Were the Main Drag" and "Emmie" change up the pace and emphasise the inherent soulfulness in Nyro's playing and performance. The original set closes with another pared-down number, "Midnite Blue," which, on the Iconoclassic Records reissue of 2008, leads into the bonus track, a solo piano version of "Timer."
Columbia made a mistake in not releasing the full version of _Season of Lights_, which features more songs, more jams, and more gems than the standard single-vinyl edition. It became available in Japan in the 1990s, and was finally released, in full form, by Iconoclassic Records in the summer of 2008, some 31 years after it was originally released (Iconoclassic also reissued the 30-year-old out-of-print _Nested_ in the same year.) So, get these Nyro rarities while you can - the wait has been long enough. Musically, it's an intriguing side to Laura Nyro. The set list is varied and entertaining, the performances strong, and the songs themselves are inviting, soulful, fun, and mysterious. This album features more of Nyro's humour as well as continuing to feed her image as something of an enigma, a "Bronx Ophelia." It is also the only live document of her tour with a band, which means it occupies a unique spot in the Nyro catalogue.
She quit the music industry in 1972 following an impeccable five-year purple patch that incorporated Brill Building pop (_More Than A New Discovery_), a marvellously inventive and original blend of metropolitan pop, soul, R&B, and Broadway (_Eli and the Thirteenth Confession_), smoky mercurial singer-songwriter epics (_New York Tendaberry_), sensual soul (_Christmas and the Beads of Sweat_), and covers of Motown classics (_Gonna Take a Miracle_). For the next three years, Nyro lived a relatively tranquil life in Connecticut with her husband, Vietnam veteran David Bianchini.
Upon their divorce, Nyro re-entered the pop fray, recording her "comeback" album, _Smile_, in 1975, and embarking upon her first full band concert tour following its release in early 1976. She then went on to record another studio album, _Nested_, released in June 1978, before another lengthy five-and-a-half-year absence. So, _Season of Lights_ captures Laura Nyro in the throes of her second sustained patch of creativity.
A double LP set was originally planned, but Columbia issued an inferior single vinyl version. The two-LP set is superior and shows a number of facets to Nyro's music. Backed by a strong cast of musicians including John Tropea and Andy Newmark, the sound is sensual and jazzy; it is light and strong, and reminiscent of Nyro's contemporary Joni Mitchell's mid-1970s exploits. Guitars, vibraphones, congas, and Nyro's own piano, with her distinctive syncopated style, are the main features of the sound. She is in good voice throughout; the unexpected screeching and impassioned wailing of records like _Eli_ and _Tendaberry_ have been toned down - she still hits the high notes, such as on the epics "Upstairs By A Chinese Lamp" and "I Am the Blues" - but it is a richer, more soulful instrument on show here, if not as immediately striking.
The band is intense on songs like "Money," a fast-paced guitar-driven jewel from _Smile_ that opens the double vinyl set and is one of the album's finest moments, with an excellent performance from Nyro and a tight, jazz-rocking arrangement. Elsewhere, songs from the depths of Nyro's catalogue are radically reworked - "Sweet Lovin' Baby" from _New York Tendaberry_ is a sexy, sinuous, groovy jazz number, not really recognisable from the reasonably stark, freeform piano arrangement on the 1969 album. "And When I Die," from _More Than A New Discovery_, is similarly slow, sensual, and funky in the 1976 version, light years away from the impassioned gospel of the 1966 original. Nyro also tones down "Sweet Blindness," from 1968's _Eli and the Thirteenth Confession_, so that the focus is on her and her piano - and the pace is certainly _much_ slower than the rollicking original.
There are also some intriguing band jams on the album. "Captain St Lucifer" features an extended jazz jam at its climax, as does "The Cat-Song," while the faithful rendition of "Smile" soon gives way to the trippy psychedelia of "Mars." The band version of "Timer" also features a lengthy instrumental section. Elsewhere, the arrangements become relatively pared down - the new song "The Morning News" is simple and elegant, with an unfussy arrangement that spotlights Nyro's lyrics about modern corruption, while solo piano versions of "When I Was A Freeport and You Were the Main Drag" and "Emmie" change up the pace and emphasise the inherent soulfulness in Nyro's playing and performance. The original set closes with another pared-down number, "Midnite Blue," which, on the Iconoclassic Records reissue of 2008, leads into the bonus track, a solo piano version of "Timer."
Columbia made a mistake in not releasing the full version of _Season of Lights_, which features more songs, more jams, and more gems than the standard single-vinyl edition. It became available in Japan in the 1990s, and was finally released, in full form, by Iconoclassic Records in the summer of 2008, some 31 years after it was originally released (Iconoclassic also reissued the 30-year-old out-of-print _Nested_ in the same year.) So, get these Nyro rarities while you can - the wait has been long enough. Musically, it's an intriguing side to Laura Nyro. The set list is varied and entertaining, the performances strong, and the songs themselves are inviting, soulful, fun, and mysterious. This album features more of Nyro's humour as well as continuing to feed her image as something of an enigma, a "Bronx Ophelia." It is also the only live document of her tour with a band, which means it occupies a unique spot in the Nyro catalogue.
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_Season Of Lights_ was Laura Nyro's first live album, and holds together very well as a document of her performance in an era when she was generally despised. With some superb backing from the instantly recognisable style of drummer Andy Newmark and the beautiful vibraphone of Michael Maimeri, Laura's songs receive a new twist.
"Money" became Nyro's closest thing to true "rock" when stripped of the horn arrangements of the _Smile_ version, and "And When I Die" benefitted from the more lavish arrangement to gain additional power. Oddly, "When I Was A Freeport And You Were The Main Drag" received a piano-only treatment that fitted the mood of _Christmas And The Beads Of Sweat_, whilst "Sweet Blindness" became more mature and slower in its new version, and "The Cat Song" became extremely jazzy but more emotional than the studio version.
_Season Of Lights_ was very impressive and did benefit from the continuity of recording with the same very talented cast to create an impressive and unified whole. It remains the definitive example of the Laura Nyro live experience.
"Money" became Nyro's closest thing to true "rock" when stripped of the horn arrangements of the _Smile_ version, and "And When I Die" benefitted from the more lavish arrangement to gain additional power. Oddly, "When I Was A Freeport And You Were The Main Drag" received a piano-only treatment that fitted the mood of _Christmas And The Beads Of Sweat_, whilst "Sweet Blindness" became more mature and slower in its new version, and "The Cat Song" became extremely jazzy but more emotional than the studio version.
_Season Of Lights_ was very impressive and did benefit from the continuity of recording with the same very talented cast to create an impressive and unified whole. It remains the definitive example of the Laura Nyro live experience.
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