“Laura Nyro is one of my all-time idols,” Elton John writes in the forward to the new limited-edition 19-CD Hear My Song box set showcasing the music of Laura Nyro. That’s high praise from one of the greatest stars in the history of rock and roll.

“She wrote songs that had no kind of fixed compass point — they had different sections, codas and various tempo changes,” John explains. “They remain as unique and absolutely spellbinding to this day as when I first heard them in the ’60s. She had such a big influence on my writing in the early ’70s, particularly when I wrote ‘Burn Down the Mission.’ I owe her so much. She was a giant of a songwriter who sadly didn’t have the legacy and recognition she deserved during the years she was with us.”

John will increase awareness of Nyro’s music next month when he and Brandi Carlile release their duo album Who Believes in Angels? with lyricist Bernie Taupin. The album’s opening cut is a brand new song “The Rose of Laura Nyro.”

Nyro’s brother, Jan Nigro, tells me why his sister’s music didn’t receive the ultimate kudos.

“One reason she didn’t get the recognition she deserved is that she refused to promote herself,” says Nigro, who grew up with Nyro in a Bronx apartment and is three years younger. “TV shows like The Tonight Show and The Late Show with David Letterman pursued her, but she wouldn’t go on them, because she wasn’t comfortable doing TV. Being on those shows would have put her in front of millions of people, but achieving greater fame was not important to her. Also, much of her music was not easy listening. Some of her songs took you into places deep inside yourself that many people preferred not to go.”

Every song Nyro released is in the new box set, a stunning comprehensive product that includes 10 remastered studio albums; six live albums, including two previously unreleased concerts; her 1966 demo tape; a bonus disc of rarities, and a 90-page coffee table book.

“Laura’s whole body of work is contained in this box set,” says Nigro, who played guitar on two albums, including an acoustic guitar solo on the song “Sophia” on the 1984 Mother’s Spiritual album. “The CDs sound pristine, and it comes with a beautiful coffee table book containing rare photos and stories about Laura told by people who worked with her, as well as family members. It’s beautifully put together in every way.”

Nigro was Nyro’s only sibling, and they shared a room growing up until Nyro moved to an apartment in Manhattan at age 18 or 19. She took a few piano lessons but was primarily self-taught. She wrote poetry and music at a young age and was living with her family when she wrote “And When I Die” and her other initial professional songs.

“We had a grand piano in the living room, and she would be there creating what are now recognized as great works of art,” Nigro recalls. “We had a lot of 45s that we played on a little record player. It was pre-Beatles, so lots of Elvis, the early girl groups and doo-wop groups. My parents had their recordings: jazz, opera, classical and show tunes, which we heard as well. All these genres found their way into Laura’s musical life and influenced her as an artist.”

In the book in the box set, Nigro writes: “Laura had an extraordinary imagination, which showed in her songs. They were peopled with all kinds of characters representing good and evil forces …When I listened to her music, I am still struck by the brilliance, the timelessness, her powerful, expressive and gorgeous voice, and the sheer audacity of what she did. It is so rare for someone in any of the arts to come along and do something completely innovative. She did this.”

Besides Elton John, Nyro’s songs have been praised by, among others, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Rickie Lee Jones, Elvis Costello, Todd Rundgren, Melissa Manchester and Suzanne Vega, Nigro says. “If you look on Laura’s Wikipedia page,” Nigro tells me, “you will find plenty of anecdotes by well-known artists talking about Laura.”

Nyro, who died of ovarian cancer at age 49 in 1999, had her own favorite musicians and composers. Among them were Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Debussy and Ravel, Nigro says.

Nigro names numerous albums he likes, including the original cast recording of My Fair Lady, the Byrds’ Mr. Tambourine Man and the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s Axis: Bold as Love, but he first points to Nyro’s Eli and the 13th Confession. The 1968 album ­was the second LP Nyro released, and it contains three songs that became big hits for other artists. “Stoned Soul Picnic” and “Sweet Blindness” were hits for the 5th Dimension, and Three Dog Night struck it big with “Eli’s Comin.”

It’s not Nyro’s best album only “because those three songs are so outstanding,” reviewer Richie Unterbeger writes at AllMusic. “It’s because the album as a whole is so outstanding, with its invigorating blend of blue-eyed soul, New York pop and early confessional singer/songwriting. Nyro sang of love, inscrutably enigmatic romantic daredevils, getting drunk, lonely women and sensual desire with an infectious joie de vivre. The arrangements superbly complemented the material with lively brass, wailing counterpoint backup vocals and Nyro’s own ebullient piano.”

Nigro, who moved to Ithaca, New York, in 1981 and worked in children’s music for decades, says he saw his sister perform many times in concert, but the most memorable one was at New York City’s Carnegie Hall on Christmas Eve in 1971. It occurred in her hometown at a “world-renowned and iconic venue with a remarkable history,” Nigro says.

Though Nyro’s music could have received more praise when she was alive, her standing in musical history is assured. In 2012, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

At the induction ceremony, Bette Midler praised Nyro and her music.

“I fell in love with her the moment I put that needle down on the vinyl,” Midler said. “I heard that haunting imagery, that beautiful music, that beautiful, sexy little girl voice, that sexy mama voice which had soul in its DNA. Her inimitable piano style. I said, ‘Where the hell did this come from?’ It was just unbelievable.”