Barb Jungr

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Barb Jungr is a musical performer, composer and writer, of Czech and German parentage. She is perhaps best known as a chansonnier, or singer of chansons—in the sense of classic, lyric-driven French songs; in the broader sense of European songs in the cabaret style; and in the even broader sense of a diverse range of songs interpreted in this style.

1 Biography
2 Discography
3 External links

[edit] Biography

Barb Jungr was born and raised in Rochdale in the north-west of England. At school, she sang, played the violin, and formed an all-girl folk group. Attending college in Leeds, she sang in bands whose styles ranged from trad jazz to bluegrass. She then became part of the early alternative cabaret circuit in London; formed the popular gospel and blues harmony group the Three Courgettes; and had a 12-year performing and composing partnership with the blues and folk guitarist and singer Michael Parker.

She was to become increasingly interested in world music, as she toured countries including Malawi, Cameroon, Sudan, Burma, Tanzania, and Yemen for the British Council. This prompted her to study ethnomusicology, and to learn Iranian tribal singing. In addition to performing and recording music, she has written, broadcast and lectured extensively on vocal techniques and singing.

Between 1991 and 2000, she created and performed in shows including Sex Religion and Politics (with writer/director Julia Pascal); Red Roses Blue Ladies (with pianist and composer Sarah Travis); Bare, Killing Me Softly, and Songs From The Heart (with pianist Russell Churney); and Hell Bent Heaven Bound (with Ian Shaw, Christine Collister, and Michael Parker). In 1999, she created the show Girl Talk, with singers Claire Martin and Mari Wilson.

Working with the Amici Dance Theatre Company under the direction of Wolfgang Stange, she appeared as the crazed MC of a circus of freaks in the production 20/20, a history of disability in the twentieth century. She also collaborated with composer Jonathan Cooper on his Moon Behind the Clouds song cycle, which he wrote specifically for her voice.

More recently, Jungr has released a series of successful solo albums. Bare (1999) is a diverse collection of songs accompanied solely by Russell Churney on piano. Chanson|The Space In Between (2000) is a collection of chansons, principally either of French origin or with a French lyric setting, recorded with a full band. Four of the chansons on this latter album are by Jacques Brel, consolidating Jungr's reputation as one of the foremost singers of Brel's repertoire, and two are by Léo Ferré.

Every Grain of Sand: Barb Jungr Sings Bob Dylan (2002) is an album of 15 Bob Dylan songs selected from the entirety of Dylan's career, featuring a full band. Jungr's chanson-like interpretation of Dylan's material is strikingly original, and certainly very different from most other approaches to covering Dylan, while at the same time remaining faithful to the essence of the originals. Waterloo Sunset (2003) is Jungr's most recent solo album, again recorded with a full band, and perhaps her most diverse offering yet. It includes two more Dylan songs, three original songs, and the title track, a moving rendition of "Waterloo Sunset" by the Kinks.