BARB JUNGR: Walking In The Sun

"Walking in the Sun" is the fifth album Barb Jungr has recorded for Linn Records and it heralds a new direction for one of Europe's finest voices. Drawing on influences from a wide range of musical traditions, including gospel and the blues, the album also includes some exciting new self-penned material. Music lovers will appreciate lyrics by such great writers as Jimmy Reed, Carole King and Randy Newman as well as a new song by Eric Bibb (Heading Home).

The UK, for whatever reason, has in recent years developed its own treasure trove of jazz vocalists that most favorably compare with any in the world. The foremost female among these is Barb Jungr, whose prior releases have seen her tackle Dylan, Brel and Elvis with stunning results. She is able to add new depth through sparse, mood-evoking arrangements to known tunes with a style that owes much to her early musical diet of Northern British soul combined with jazz and cabaret. With a voice and attitude that is custom-made for "cool blues," Walking in the Sun finds Jungr pooling her talents to deliciously convey a myriad of emotions with each sung syllable.

She begins by elegantly merging her sultriness with the eerie machismo of the original to turn Who Do You Love? into a distinctively feminine query. Bassist Steve Watts, pianist Jenny Carr and the soulful organist Jessica Lauren freeze you in your tracks as they find the blues in Dylan's Trouble in Mind, before Lauren turns to harmonica when she and Jungr deftly pay homage to Blind Willie McTell. Jungr's originals, Beautiful Life and Drink Me Up, suit the agenda well; the former provides lovely respite with its uplifting take on life's wonders, and the latter celebrates blueswomen everywhere with its stylish use of piano, organ and Jungr's distinctive phrasing.

The interesting juxtaposition of a gospel-tinged Walking in Memphis with Jeff Barry's equally spiritual Walking in the Sun, beautifully conveyed by cellist Gabriella Swallow, makes for an inspirational foray into the blues' flip side. Jungr and Carr partner on the great bluesman Brownie McGhee's Rainy Day for a starkly emotional presentation, before the bluesy humor of Jimmy Reed's Take out Some Insurance brings a smile to the previous pathos.

Harmonies reminiscent of Sweet Honey in the Rock are united with Randy Newman's God Song and the traditional Run on for a Long Time as Jungr, Carr and Lauren form a vocal trio, leading into a uniquely percussive and personal take on Jimmy Cliff's Many Rivers to Cross, where Jungr sings with drummer Roy Dodds. Eric Bibb uses his guitar to add bluesy coloration throughout, and his rhythmical Heading Home sets the stage for Carole King's divine closer, Way Over Yonder. In this program that joins the blues with gospel, Jungr has again come up with a winning formula.
Elliott Simon, AllAboutJazz.com - September 2006

If Randy Newman is the thinking person's pop singer, Barb Jungr occupies a similar niche in this country. An astute interpreter of chanson, folk, blues, jazz and show tunes, she has been on quite a roll of late. Many a Dylan fan was seduced by the svelte covers on "Every Grain of Sand", and she peeled away the Graceland kitsch on "Love Me Tender", a low-key tribute to Elvis. This album heads deeper into blues and gospel terrain. Jungr may not be a born R&B shouter, but there's a simmering intelligence in the tolling chords of Brownie McGhee's Rainy Day. Elsewhere, Eric Bibb adds characteristically soulful but discreet guitar.
Clive Davis - The Sunday Times