''Season of Lights... Laura Nyro in Concert'' is the first live album by American singer-songwriter

Laura Nyro Laura Nyro ( ; born Laura Nigro; October 18, 1947 – April 8, 1997) was an American songwriter, singer, and pianist. She achieved critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums ''Eli and the Thirteenth Confession'' (1968 ...

Overview

Columbia Records issued the album in the summer of 1977, taking the songs from various locations on Nyro's 1976 tour in support of her most recent studio album, ''

Smile A smile is a facial expression formed primarily by flexing the muscles at the sides of the mouth. Some smiles include a contraction of the muscles at the corner of the eyes, an action known as a Duchenne smile. Among humans, a smile expresses ...

''. Although the album had no strict producer, Nyro is credited as the "musical director." Dale Ashby was engineer and mixer, assisted by Don Pulse and Ken Robertson. The album documents Nyro's first full-band tour, with her playing guitar, piano, and other keyboards, backed by a group of musicians including

John Tropea John Tropea (pronounced 'tro-pay'; born January 7, 1946) is an American guitarist. Career Tropea began guitar studies at the age of 12. His musical education continued at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he studied jazz guitar, harmo ...

on guitar and Richard Davis on bass. The atmosphere of the album is laidback, smooth, and jazz-inspired, musically similar to the explorations on ''Smile''. Nyro re-arranged many songs to fit her new band's sound, such as slowing down "

Sweet Blindness "Sweet Blindness" is a song written by Laura Nyro, released in 1968, and included on her ''Eli and the Thirteenth Confession''. Background The song was a drinking song that sounded old fashioned, noted for its rhythm changes as well as its brass ...

" or making "

And When I Die "And When I Die" is a song written by American singer and songwriter Laura Nyro. It was first recorded by the folk group Peter, Paul and Mary in 1966. Nyro released her own version on her debut album '' More Than a New Discovery'' in February 1967 ...

" funkier. The album was originally intended to be a double-LP set consisting of 16 songs, and this version was sent to some outlets as a promotional copy and as a Japanese import. Instead, Columbia released a single-LP set of 10 songs. Reissue imprint Iconoclassic Records released a remastered version of ''Season of Lights'', including all sixteen songs plus a bonus solo version of "Timer," on CD in August 2008. The album peaked at #137 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, then known as the Pop Albums chart. It was Nyro's penultimate US chart entry after a run of seven successive charting albums stretching back to 1968's ''

Eli and the Thirteenth Confession ''Eli and the Thirteenth Confession'' is the second album by New York City-born singer, songwriter, and pianist Laura Nyro, released in 1968. History Nyro premiered some of the songs that were to appear on the album at the 1967 Monterey Pop Fes ...

'', before her final chart entry in 1984.

Track listing (standard single vinyl version)

All tracks composed by Laura Nyro

Track listing (original double-vinyl version and Iconoclassic 2008 CD remaster)

Personnel

*Laura Nyro – vocals, piano, musical director *

– electric guitar * Richard Davis – bass * Andy Newmark – drums *Carter "C.C." Collins – percussion *Nydia Mata – congas *

Mike Mainieri Michael T. Mainieri Jr. (born July 4, 1938) is an American vibraphonist, known for his work with the jazz fusion group Steps Ahead. He is married to the singer-songwriter and harpist Dee Carstensen. Biography Mainieri was born in The Bronx, Ne ...

– clavinet, marimba, vibraphone *Jean Fineberg, Jeff King – saxophone *Ellen Seeling – trumpet ;Technical *Recorded by Dale Ashby *Mixed by Don Puluse and Ron Johnsen *Cover painting by Rokuro Taniuchi

References

Allmusic

Laura Nyro
{{Laura Nyro Laura Nyro live albums 1977 live albums Columbia Records live albums