Customer Reviews

Serious Playground: The Songs of Laura Nyro (Snys)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

There's no doubt this is a controversial CD/project. It seems that people come at it from two "camps" so to speak: those like myself who have known virtually nothing about Judy Kuhn but are great and long-time Laura Nyro fans, and vice versa, and that is going to color everything for us. In my personal, subjective opinion, it's virtually a given that no one can match Laura singing Laura, or even come close, but just the fact that Judy Kuhn is a very talented singer performer who loves Laura enough to record an entire CD of her music, including some very surprising and unexpected choices of material, such as Blackpatch, To A Child and Mother's Spiritual, rates very high in my book. I know I'll be giving it many more listens, and I think it's respectable. Like some other reviewers, my biggest hope, however, is that it will help give Laura's original music even a bit more exposure that is so lacking. For me it feels like there are literally generations of listeners now who would love to discover one of our era's most amazing talents (in my humble opinion!).

I'm one of those rare people who is a big fan of both Laura Nyro and Judy Kuhn. I saw Judy Kuhn in CHESS on Broadway 20 years ago and have been a fan ever since, and I've been a Laura Nyro fanatic for decades.

And, usually, I feel that no one can perform Laura Nyro's songs like Laura Nyro herself. Most artists who interpret the material seem to bleed all the energy out of it.

But this CD is a rare case of a great voice singing great songs with great production. After reading some of the online reviews, I was a bit apprehensive about what I would hear when I bought this CD. There was definitely no need for me to be apprehensive -- this CD is just plain good.

Judy Kuhn has the energy and passion in her voice to carry off this sometimes tricky material. The arrangements help keep that level of energy up, which is where this album really shines.

I hesitate to give this CD five stars, though, because I don't feel it's the greatest vocal performance of Ms. Kuhn's career, nor is it the best collection of Laura Nyro songs ever assembled. But it's awfully darned good and well worth a listen for any fan of Judy Kuhn or Laura Nyro.

I agree with the previous reviewer about loving Judy Kuhn. She's really wonderful. I don't agree about the material, however. I have loved Laura Nyro for many years. I don't think anyone can do Laura, but the late, wonderful Laura. Her material is not dated, but needs to be listened to through Laura Nyro's own incredible voice. I think Judy Kuhn deserves a lot of credit for trying to keep Laura Nyro's music alive. It is so much better than a lot of music out there. Anybody who wants to hear really great music, written by a very young girl, should check out some of Laura Nyro's early recordings.

Judy Kuhn
Serious Playground
(Ghostlight Records)
US release date: 2 October 2007
UK release date: Available as import

by Tony Sclafani

Judy Kuhn is a Broadway singer, three-time Tony Award nominee and winner of an Obie Award for her role in the off-Broadway musical "Eli's Comin'" (which was comprised of songs of the late pioneering singer-songwriter Laura Nyro: "Wedding Bell Blues", "Stoned Soul Picnic"). Kuhn cut a well-received CD of Jule Styne American Songbook classics in 1995, and attempts to do the same here with Nyro.

The Bronx-born Nyro, who helped define the role of the singer-songwriter in the 1960s, was a multifaceted writer who created wildly individualistic music when she took her teenage love of soul, R&B and girl group music and melded it with poetic lyrics and innovative song structures. But Nyro wrote from an R&B foundation, and that makes for an uneasy match with the pristine-voiced Kuhn. Kuhn's trained voice is so professional-sounding that it doesn't meld easily with the bluesy notes that are at the heart and soul of Nyro's melodies (accent on the "soul").

For the arrangements, musical director Jeffrey Klitz brings out the jazzy elements in the songs, but too often makes them overly busy or ornate. Not that Nyro wasn't complicated; she often was. But when Nyro played with tempos, rhythms or dynamics it was always to underscore an expressive point she was trying to make. Kuhn and Klitz's approach works when they tackle artsier songs, like "Upstairs by a Chinese Lamp" or "Black Patch" or jazzier numbers, such as "Buy and Sell".

They're less successful with the songs that depend on an interior rhythmic drive for their melodies to come to life ("Stoney End" and "Save the Country"). Still, credit Kuhn for her enthusiasm and good taste. She's brought to light some lesser-known Nyro gems like "Mother's Spiritual" and "Lonely Women" and put together the first-ever solo CD celebrating the work of a pioneering, often overlooked songwriter.

From Pop Matters -- 24 October 2007

Laura Nyro's music has been so much a part of my life that I wondered if I would enjoy hearing another sing her work. This is my introduction to Judy Kuhn. Judy does a great job on "Sweet Blindness" with a jazzy arrangement, giving the song a unique treatment, "A little magic, a little kindness." "To A Child" is one of my favorite Nyro songs with its obvious maternal feelings. Judy does a great job with it, "Is there hope for a mother and an elf on speed?" "California Shoeshine Boys" boogies delightfully with sass, "John can make sweet Cindy cry, but Joe can make her crawl." "Stoned Soul Picnic" boasts a rawness in Kuhn's vocals with a lovely arrangement, "And from the sky come the Lord & the lightning." Aaron Heick's sax solo on "Lonely Women" is pure ambrosia, although Kuhn's vocal vibrato is a bit distracting for me. "Mother's Spiritual" is one of the most beautiful songs for me; so I'm thrilled to hear Judy's excellent cover, "Feel this love, my brothers & sisters, feel the seasons turn; She is the mother of time; Light & darkness come to her kiss, that's where mother's spiritual lives." "Upstairs by a Chinese Lamp" is such a lovely song. I loved Leni Stern's instrumental version on the tribute CD Time and Love: The Music of Laura Nyro. Kuhn's version blooms. On "Buy & Sell" from Laura Nyro's The First Songs, Kuhn's version is worth it's weight in gold. She nails the lovely melody and the moody ache of Nyro's music, "Coc*ine and quiet beers, sweet candy & caramel, pass the time and dry the tears on a street called Buy & Sell." While no one will replace Laura Nyro as a singer for me, Judy Kuhn's excellent CD polishes some excellent material delightfully. Enjoy!

I coudn't disagree more with these other reviews; perhaps that's because I saw Kuhn do this set at Lincoln Center and then three times at Joe's Pub. Judy Kuhn and Laura Nyro are the perfect match between singer and songwriter, and I'm an enormous fan of both. After Kuhn's Lincoln Center set, I had put together (of Nyro singing) the lineup of Kuhn's set. I recently went back into that playlist, and (don't throw rocks at me) but Kuhn often surpasses the originals -- especially, with Stoney End and Been On A Train. I about fell off my chair when I first heard Kuhn sing Been On A Train, and on that big note (you know, or you'll know which one when you hear it), Nyro sounds, well, kinda meager by comparison. Kuhn totally rethinks Stoney End, and it's now actually about something rather than just an on-the-beat pop/rock song.

So many other delights to be found here as well -- Blackpatch, Captain St. Lucifer, Mother's Spiritual, Lonely Women, Upstairs By A Chinese Lamp, and Buy and Sell, in particular. While Luckie doesn't begin to match Nyro's original (and Luckie was the one song which Kuhn and her crackerjack musicians had some trouble with -- that tempo change on "dig those potatoes" is a hard one....), it's perfectly respectable. I'm not super-crazy about Save The Country (save the message of it).

The vast majority of the arrangements are respectful of Nyro, and gorgeous in their own way (and I'm not a kneejerk Kuhn recording lover as the frequently bizarre arrangements on her Jule Styne/Just In Time CD just jettison that whole project). The trumpeter on Stoned Soul Picnic just nails it, and the cellist offer superb support on many tracks.

All this is said with tremendous respect and admiration for Nyro -- Eli and the Thirteenth Confession, for me, being one of the best albums ever. I've been astonished at the number of people who simply don't have a clue of who Laura Nyro was, and this wonderful CD by Kuhn will indeed direct listeners back (and rightly so) to the originals.

Highest recommendation.

In spite of the fact that I am not much of a Laura Nyro fan, I really love this album. Judy Kuhn could record herself singing the phone book and it would be emotional and good. She is a very capable singer who could probably have a career in any musical field she wanted, but she seems to be leaning on jazz. It is not my genre, but her vocal quality makes it so listenable that I love the album.

JudyJudyJudy...Tain't personal, Judy, but I had high hopes for this (I love your voice and I loved your Jule Styne CD and your performance in "Passions"!) and it just fell far short of my expectations. I love Laura Nyro too and I guess other singers usually fall short in interpreting such original, singular "singer/songwriter" songs (remembering Fifth Dimension, Streisand...altho "Eli's Coming" by Three Dog Night was pretty good, I think).

Most of the songs feel like "cabaret" interpretations. There are a few exceptions (Lonely Women, To A Child were good).

I think that the "singer/songwriter" version often stands as the "definitive" version and that's hard to get around. People have also failed to interpret Joni Mitchell's songs successfully, as another example. And you don't hear people trying to sing Billy Joel or Elton John or...well, you see what I mean.

For someone who has never heard the original Laura Nyro songs, you might like this. Or if you have seen Judy perform some of this material in person (which I'm sure was better, as live music usually is)you might also enjoy this.

I do wish that Judy would come out with a mixed selection of standards from the 30's, 40's and Broadway stuff. A "cabaret" mix...It's exactly what I would love to hear from her.

I have been waiting and waiting for Ms.Kuhn's new CD and I was excited that she was doing Laura Nyro. I still have the first Nyro, "More than a New Discovery" on LP --which I lucked into buying the week it came out.

I liked this CD immediately but I didn't love it. I wished she had chosen differently. I think that this was because I haven't been listening to Nyro lately and only had in my ears the more well-known songs.

Now, after repeated listening, I get the combination of Kuhn's awesome voice and sensitivity to the Nyro New York magic.

I still want to hear more songs!

I had real high hopes for this one. Having seen Judy perform in "Eli's Comin'" in which she gave a fabulous performance. I was hoping for more of that same energy and passion here, but...these arrangements are sappy and corny and lack the drive and passion of the real thing. I agree with the other reviewers that Judy has a lovely voice and this is without dispute. But it does not mean though that she can do Nyro justice. I'm afraid not many can. Barbra Streisand tried and failed in the early 70's and we all know what an amazing voice she has. I can count those that can on one hand: The Fifth Dimension and Swing Out Sister.

This recording then lacks the blood, sweat, tears, the real grit and grime of the New York Streets at night. This then is a sterile and sanitized over view of Nyro's awesome catalogue. There ain't enough suffering in these songs and the pain and the joy are lacking. It just seems someone who is from NYC should know better. My advice is to keep on studying the original Master, the Artists Artist, Laura Nyro.

On the plus side, as stated previously, hopefully this will open the door to a new generation being turned onto Nyro and discovering her incredible catalogue that begs for new ears and for new hearts. But this is another case of its best to go back to the genius, original, Source, Laura Nyro.