2014 · Album
Map to the Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro
Recorded 2014 · Sony Masterworks · Produced by Billy Childs
Laura Nyro's Songs, Reimagined Through Billy Childs
Childs takes Nyro's emotionally direct songs and gives them orchestral room to breathe.
Map to the Treasure opens with a wide, unhurried sweep of strings and piano, the kind of sound that sets the room before a single melody arrives. Billy Childs wrote and arranged these pieces around the songs of Laura Nyro, and the textures lean chamber-like: cellos, violins, a harp, and a rhythm section that moves with restraint rather than swing for its own sake. Tempos stay mostly relaxed, and the mood is reflective, warm, and a little melancholy.
The record is less about jazz improvisation than about arrangement. Childs keeps Nyro's melodic lines intact and builds layered settings around them, with Wayne Shorter's soprano saxophone adding a lyrical, searching voice and Chris Potter's tenor bringing more muscle where the writing asks for it. Yo-Yo Ma's cello gives several passages a grave, singing quality. Brian Blade and Vinnie Colaiuta handle the drums with a light touch, keeping the pulse present without pushing the pieces forward too hard.
As a place to start with Childs, this is a good choice. It shows his skill as an orchestrator and his affection for songwriting outside the standards tradition, and it is more accessible than his denser large-ensemble work. Listeners who know Nyro will hear what he finds in her material; those who don't will still get a graceful, carefully made record that rewards patient listening.
Who's playing
Scott Colleybass
Carlos del Puertobass
Billy Childspiano
Dean Parksguitar
Wayne Shortersoprano saxophone
Chris Pottertenor saxophone
Brian Bladedrums
Vinnie Colaiutadrums
Jay Bellerosepercussion
Jen Choi Fischerviolin
Vanessa Freebairn‐Smithcello
Yo‐Yo Macello
Luke Maurerviola
Carol Robbinsharp
Mark Robertsonviolin
Alyssa Parkviolin
Where next?
More by Billy Childs
All 16 albums →
The musicians on this record
The All Seeing Eye 1966
Wayne Shorter
plays soprano saxophone here
plays soprano saxophone here
In the Shadow of a Cloud 2017
Chris Potter
plays tenor saxophone here
plays tenor saxophone here
