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Barb Jungr

After an extraordinarily successful 2010, with her new CD The Men I Love released on Naim Label, appearances on NY1 and BBC Breakfast TV, a sellout tour of Australia, several highly praised shows in New York, and performances for the first time in St Louis, Cleveland and San Francisco, Barb Jungr is celebrating 2011 with touring the UK with a new live Dylan collection, reforming Girl Talk with Mari Wilson and Gwyneth Herbert, and collaborating again with Kuljit Bhamra and Simon Wallace on Durga Rising.

With rave reviews internationally and two New York awards (2008 Nightlife Award for Outstanding Cabaret Vocalist and Best International Artist 2003 Backstage Award), Barb Jungr is renowned for her unique vocal style, approach to arrangements and interpretation of song. Her acclaimed releases on Linn Reords and Naim Label, and "revelatory" live performances have brought her to the world stage and revealed her to be one of Europe's most exciting voices.

Critics have compared Jungr to Nina Simone and Peggy Lee, called her "a British Edith Piaf", "one of the best interpreters of Jacques Brel and Bob Dylan anywhere on this angst ridden planet today" (Village Voice, New York) "one of the best nightclub singers in the world" (Time Out New York) and “mesmerizing” (The New York Times).

She has worked with some of the finest musicians and composers in the UK, has toured all over the world for the British Council in the 1990's (Malawi, Cameroon, The Yemen, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Cote D'Ivoire, Sudan) recently appeared in Australia (2006, 2007 and a sellout tour in 2010), toured Norway and has appeared in Holland and often in New York (several seasons at The Cafe Carlyle and Metropolitan Room), and at Joe's Pub.

Singer and writer Barb Jungr was born and raised in the northwest of England. She worked with now legendary comedians and performers on the emerging Alternative Cabaret circuit in the UK (Julian Clary, Alexei Sayle, Arnold Brown) before beginning to create the themed shows which became her trademark and led her to the attention of Linn Records with whom she subsequently released 6 records before moving to the Naim label in 2010 for her latest release, The Men I Love.

"she draws out the stories the words tell with the focus of a fine actress " Downbeat Magazine, **** (4 stars)

Jungr combines touring with her work as a respected writer and lyricist, her credits include The Jungle Book, (Birmingham Stage Company), The Fabulous Flutterbys, (The Little Angel Theatre), Cinderella, Beauty and The Beast and Dick Whittington for The Newbury Corn Exchange,and Mabel Stark Tiger Tamer currently in development for Northampton Royal and Derngate.

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Profile

Barb Jungr and the Benefits of an Open Mind

Read "Barb Jungr and the Benefits of an Open Mind" reviewed by Mathew Bahl


Music fans can generally be divided into two camps: Those who see music as a world of ever-expanding possibilities and those who see music as a small island where the only good things are the familiar things. The irony, of course, is that jazz is a music created by people in the first category but supported by many people in the second. What the folks on their small islands end up missing out on is that indescribable thrill you get ...

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Album Review

Barb Jungr: Bob, Brel & Me

Read "Bob, Brel & Me" reviewed by John Eyles


Apparently, Barb Jungr~ considers Bob, Brel and Me her best ever and has said of it, “I may not make another." Given her productivity over recent years, it is tempting to doubt that; but if it does turn out to be true, this album will make a great finale. Rather than being a one-off project, Bob, Brel and Me feels like an integral part of the warp and weft of Jungr's work since 1999. As early as her album Bare ...

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Bailey's Bundles

Jazz Quanta April – Five Women II: Sarah Vaughan, Barb Jungr, marty Elkins, Phyllis Blanford, and Tina Phillips

Read "Jazz Quanta April – Five Women II:  Sarah Vaughan, Barb Jungr, marty Elkins, Phyllis Blanford, and Tina Phillips" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


There is never too much of a good thing... Sarah Vaughan Live at Rosy's Resonance Records 2016 The most important and popular female jazz vocalists all had nick names. Lady Day, The First Lady of Song, The Devine One..."The President" Lester Young gave Billie Holiday her nom de plume, while Ella Fitzgerald was dubbed the First Lady early on. Chris Becker, in his book Freedom of Expression: Interviews with Women ...

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Catching Up With

Barb Jungr: Loving Living Life

Read "Barb Jungr: Loving Living Life" reviewed by Sammy Stein


Barb Jungr brings her infectious enthusiasm to even the most mundane of things. A stroll in the park is turned into a gleeful discovery as she finds a stand of daffodils; a walk home is turned into delight as Jungr snaps a picture of London by night from a bridge. She has that knack of spotting something you never realized was there and making you look at ordinary things differently. She plays with phrases and words--like 'polyglot,' or 'loop of ...

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Album Review

Barb Jungr: Hard Rain (The Songs of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen)

Read "Hard Rain (The Songs of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen)" reviewed by John Eyles


Ever since Barb Jungr released her first album of Bob Dylan songs, Every Grain of Sand (Linn, 2002), she has been consistently praised as a Dylan interpreter par excellence. Each of her subsequent albums has included at least one Dylan song--she even included a couple each on her tribute albums to Elvis Presley and Nina Simone. As Jungr herself has said, “Once I had started singing Dylan's songs, I couldn't stop." Man in the Long Black Coat (Linn, 2011) was ...

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Album Review

Barb Jungr: Stockport to Memphis

Read "Stockport to Memphis" reviewed by John Eyles


Since her breakthrough Chanson: The Space in Between (Linn, 2000), vocalist Barb Jungr has mainly released albums of songs by other people. Several have focused on the work of one performer, notably Every Grain of Sand (Linn, 2002), consisting of Bob Dylan songs, the Elvis Presley tribute Love Me Tender (Linn, 2005) and Just Like a Woman--A Hymn to Nina... Barb Jungr Sings Nina Simone (Linn, 2008). Others, such as The Men I Love: The New American Songbook (Naim, 2010), ...

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Album Review

Barb Jungr / Kuljit Bhamra / Russell Churney: Durga Rising

Read "Durga Rising" reviewed by John Eyles


Durga Rising was recorded in 1996 but not properly released at the time. Featuring Barb Jungr on vocals, Kuljit Bhamra on percussion and Russell Churney on piano, it seems likely to attract more attention today than it did back in 1996. Since then, Jungr has enjoyed a burgeoning solo career accompanied by a string of awards that recognize her prowess as a cabaret singer, and Bhamra has gained prominence in several areas, including jazz, through his work with saxophonist Andy ...

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Performance / Tour

Jazz this week: Maceo Parker, Barb Jungr & John McDaniel, Ryan Keberle, and more

Jazz this week: Maceo Parker, Barb Jungr & John McDaniel, Ryan Keberle, and more

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis features one of the godfathers of funk saxophone, cabaret interpretations of the music of the Beatles, the return of a popular free concert series, and more. Let's go to the highlights... Wednesday, January 24 Saxophonist Maceo Parker opens a four-night engagement continuing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. Parker made his reputation in the 1970s and '80s as a member of James Brown's band, the JBs. He ...

Performance / Tour

Barb Jungr & Todd Gordon Sing The Great & The New American Songbooks

Barb Jungr & Todd Gordon Sing The Great & The New American Songbooks

Source: Zzzing Agency

Barb Jungr & Todd Gordon sing The Great & The New American Songbooks Accompanied by Simon Wallace Internationally acclaimed song stylist Barb Jungr - famed for her unique, groundbreaking work and who has seven CDs on Linn Records and two on Naim - has joined forces and created a new show with Britain's finest jazz/swing singer, Todd Gordon. Barb will perform the best of New American Songbook: Dylan, Cohen, Joni Mitchell and more, while Todd will give his exuberant take ...

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Recording

The Art Of The Torch Singer, Piers Ford Reviews Man In The Long Black Coat and Durga Rising

The Art Of The Torch Singer, Piers Ford Reviews Man In The Long Black Coat and Durga Rising

Source: Barb Jungr

There are three elders at the top of the tree when it comes to British female singers who have an instinctive ability to tell the whole story in a song: Norma Waterson, June Tabor and Barb Jungr. Forget any ungallant connotations. I use the word simply to connote wisdom and an almost forensic approach to their craft. If Waterson is the benevolent earth mother, Tabor is the cool, all-seeing and often bleak eye at the centre of life's storm. Jungr, ...

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Performance / Tour

Jazz This Week: Pat Martino, Romero Lubambo and Peter Martin, Tatsuya Nakatani, Barb Jungr, New Music Circle Showcase, and More

Jazz This Week: Pat Martino, Romero Lubambo and Peter Martin, Tatsuya Nakatani, Barb Jungr, New Music Circle Showcase, and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

It's a busy time for jazz and creative music over the next few days in St. Louis, with events in styles ranging from soulful mainstream swing to adventurous free improv, plus holiday music, a tribute to a fallen Beatle, and lots more besides. Let's go to the highlights: Perhaps the best known musician visiting our town this week is guitarist Pat Martino, who plays tonight through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. Martino is an acknowledged master of the classic ...

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Interview

Vocalist Barb Jungr Interviewed at AAJ

Vocalist Barb Jungr Interviewed at AAJ

Source: All About Jazz

Singer Barb Jungr is on a roll at present. In March 2009 she and accompanist Simon Wallace played for the first time at Caf Carlyle, in New York City, presenting a show entitled “The Men I Love" which featured songs by the likes of Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Bruce Springsteen, Todd Rundgren and Neil Diamond. The show received rave reviews and was voted one of the year's best by Time Out New York. The songs from the show formed the ...

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Recording

Barb Jungr Releases the "Men I Love-the New American Songbook" CD

Barb Jungr Releases the "Men I Love-the New American Songbook" CD

Source: Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services

New York, New York - Barb Jungr is renowned for her unique vocal style and approach to arrangements and interpretations of a wide range of songs. When you hear her sing The Talking Heads classic track “Once In A Lifetime" on the upcoming release The Men I Love-The New American Songbook, you will find yourself caught up in the elucidation and forget who actually originally did the song to begin with. That is homage to the diverse talents of Barb ...

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Recording

Barb Jungr's Hymn to Nina Simone

Barb Jungr's Hymn to Nina Simone

Source: All About Jazz

"Just Like a Woman" is Barb Jungr's hymn to the late, legendary Nina Simone. This beautiful, haunting and reflective album comprises eleven songs famously interpreted by the great singer - a voice with whom she has often been compared. Like her mentor, Jungr is truly a singer who lives life through her work. This release is backed by an extensive UK tour - see attached sheet for details. She has just returned from New York where she collected the Nitelife ...

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Performance / Tour

Barb Jungr Returns to New York for Two Shows at the Metropolitan Room May 9 & 10

Barb Jungr Returns to New York for Two Shows at the Metropolitan Room May 9 & 10

Source: Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services

BARB JUNGR RETURNS TO NEW YORK FOR TWO SHOWS AT THE METROPOLITAN ROOM MAY 9 & 10 U.K. based vocalist Barb Jungr is pleased to announce two very special shows May 9th and 10th show times at 9.30 and 10.30pm at the award winning Metropolitan Room featuring Charlie Giordano on piano. With her unique vocal style, critics have compared her to Nina Simone, Peggy Lee and Edith Piaf - Village Voice (New York) declaring that “(Barb Jungr) is ...

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Performance / Tour

Barb Jungr Appearing at the Cafe Carlyle February and March

Barb Jungr Appearing at the Cafe Carlyle February and March

Source: Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services

Barb Jungr appearing at The Cafe Carlyle accompanied by pianist Simon Wallace Celebrating the release of her new CD The Men I Love-The New American Songbook FEBRUARY 25th, 26th, 27th & MARCH 4th, 5th, 6th Show times @ 10.45 pm. Reservations 212 744 1600 Cafe Carlyle 35 East 76th Street New York, NY 10021 New CD: The Men I Love (Naim CD 144) available May 11th, 2010 A phenomenal performer ...

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Performance / Tour

Barb Jungr Sings Bob Dylan At The Flea September 24 - October 12, 2002

Barb Jungr Sings Bob Dylan At The Flea September 24 - October 12, 2002

Source: All About Jazz

(The Times) as she makes her New York debut in this strictly limited season. Barb Jungr presents songs from her hugely successful new CD Every Grain Of Sand - Barb Jungr sings Bob Dylan.

“Britain's finest interpreter of grown-up cabaret" --The Times

“Jungr approaches the Dylan songbook with a rare degree of intelligence, relishing each line in the manner of a true chansonnier. The kind of voice many more should get around to hearing." --Fred Dellar, MOJO

“Jungr is at ...

""Barb Jungr has that Joni Mitchell hipness. Her interpretation of new standards are like vocal poetry." St Joseph News USA"

"Bob Dylan, jazz, northern soul, Nina Simone and continental Europe's cabaret music perform a subtle dance in singer Jungr's consciousness..." The Guardian

"astute...simmering....intelligent" --The Sunday Times

"Magnificent ...Jungr's voice is truly a thing of wonder" --The Daily Express

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