Laura Nyro

Spread Your Wings And Fly: Live At The Fillmore East May 30, 1971

COLUMBIA 2004, £17.70

You say: “Love how knowledgeable/responsive/ appreciative her Fil audience is.” David Corway, Twitter Of Nyro’s five posthumous live albums, the solo Fillmore East show is best, for its unadorned and intimate treatment of her peak work (1967-71), including material from the covers LP

(Gonna Take A Miracle) she’d just begun. That said, she never committed Natural Woman and O-o-h Child to wax, so this is an unmissable chance to hear more of her killer oldies playlist, alongside three original debutantes: American Dove, Mother Earth (neither re-recorded, and signalling her eco-feminist mindset to come) and the magnificent I Am The Blues. Playing to her home crowd, Nyro soaks up their rapture and reflects it back at them.