Live in Japan

Laura Nyro

Laura Nyro was one of the true innovators of 1960s pop, an influential singer-songwriter who merged jazz, gospel, R&B, and girl-group sounds and created an oeuvre that was both highly sophisticated and instantly accessible. Although she wrote several classic and somewhat straight-ahead songs for others in the `60s and `70s ("And When I Die" for Blood, Sweat & Tears and "Stoney End" for Barbra Steisand, among many others), her solo work was notable for its eccentricity, with unusual lyrics, shifting time signatures, and a deeply confessional nature. After her initial prolificacy, Nyro recorded only sporadically through the `80s and `90s, and passed away in 1997.