Barb Jungr

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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. A song-stylist incorporating jazz and blues, her approach often includes radical re-readings of known writers as well as original material.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Barb Jungr was born in Rochdale[where?] and grew up in Stockport[where?].

She moved to London in the mid 1970s and became part of the early alternative cabaret circuit performing and recording with the cult vocal harmony group The Three Courgettes after which she formed a song writing and musical partnership with Michael Parker. Together they toured, recorded and released a number of albums, worked with comedians Julian Clary and Arnold Brown, supported Alexei Sayle on tour and appeared on radio and television.

After going solo in the 1990s Jungr created the harmony shows Hell Bent Heaven Bound with Parker, Christine Collister, Ian Shaw and Helen Watson. They toured the UK and played the Edinburgh Festival and were invited to the Vancouver and Winnipeg festivals, in Canada. She recorded a CD, Durga Rising with the Bhangra producer and percussionist Kuljit Bhamra. After creating a series of shows and releasing the album Bare (album) on Irregular records she was invited to record for Glasgow based Linn Records, releasing Chanson: The Space In Between in 2000, centred around a series of new English translations of classic French chansons. In 2002, she released Every Grain Of Sand, an album of new arrangements of Bob Dylan’s songs, followed by Waterloo Sunset in 2003. In 2004 she recorded Love Me Tender, an album of songs recorded by Elvis Presley for release in March 2005.

In 2002 The British Council supported Jungr’s three week run at New York’s Flea Theatre, for which she won the Backstage Award for Best International Artist. She has since continued to appear regularly in New York, performing at Joe’s Pub and Mama Rose’s.

Jungr has also worked with the Amici multi disciplinary dance troupe, has directed and produced the work of other artists and collaborated with composer Jonathan Cooper on his "Moon Behind The Clouds" song cycle. She was featured in Simon Armitage's millennial poem Channel 4 film, directed by Brian Hill and she created the cabaret show "Girl Talk" with her friends and top British singers Mari Wilson and Claire Martin.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Solo albums

[edit] Albums with Michael Parker

[edit] Other albums

  • Jonathan Cooper

The Magic of Kisses (2008)

with Claire Martin and Mari Wilson (2005) Linn Records

[edit] External links