Three years after her death at the age of 84 and 56 years after her debut album, the Numero Group releases “Words and Music” with 47 songs: Margo Guryan’s success story is a strange one, not least due to her own choices, but one that has nevertheless earned her a considerable cult status. Born into a family of musicians in New York in 1937, she began writing lyrics and songs at an early age, later studying jazz and classical piano, but soon switched to composition. It soon became clear that Guryan felt uncomfortable performing in front of others.
Her only album, 1968’s “Take a Picture”, was modern for its time and highly praised by the media. The reason for its temporary disappearance was Guryan’s reluctance to go on tour. A self-confident decision, which she justified by saying that she didn’t want to be “owned” by anyone in the music industry at that time. So Guryan led a quiet life as a piano teacher. Since the 1990s, however, her music has experienced a revival in many circles from the USA to Japan and has developed an intense life of its own. With “Words and Music”, the artist’s jazzy-poppy sound finds a fitting end. Or perhaps a new beginning?
