Laura Nyro
New York Tendaberry

THE REVIEW

The best way to understand the beauty of this album, released in 1969, is to listen to it while observing the extraordinary nighttime photo of New York taken from inside an uninhabited house, featured on the cover. That image summarizes the intimate and melancholic contents encapsulated within the tracks of the album from this highly talented New York singer and pianist.

"New York Tendaberry" is an unknown treasure that deserves to be rediscovered. Based on a unique vocal style and a few essential piano touches, the pearls contained in this chest are adorned with very sober orchestral arrangements. Nyro completes the work by evoking in the tracks elements of soul, gospel, jazz, and folk. As if Bob Dylan, John Coltrane, and the Shirelles were pieces of the same puzzle.

In the album, the restless, melancholic, and passionate voice of the protagonist stands out, the focal point of an uncommon musicality characterized by silences, slowdowns, waits but also sudden explosions and tempo changes. Among the tracks, it's worth mentioning the soul of "Mercy on Broadway", the rhythmic changes of "Tom Cat Goodby", the whispered singing of "New York Tendaberry", and the famous "Save The Country", an ecological song about protecting the ecosystem.

Lulled by the critical acclaim that matters, Laura Nyro, over the years, would never have widespread public approval. Several artists would draw from her rich repertoire (Barbra Streisand, Blood Sweat And Tears, 5th Dimension) and various musicians would cite her as a source of inspiration (Suzanne Vega, Tori Amos). Laura Nyro's music is so fragile and deep that it deserves attentive and thoughtful listening. Unique and intense, this great artist deserves to be at the top of the Olympus of the best singer-songwriters of all time. She, alongside Joni Mitchell and Rickie Lee Jones.