59E59 Theaters has announced that renowned British cabaret star Barb Jungr returns to 59E59 with BARB JUNGR: HARD RAIN, accompanied on piano by Tracy Stark and on percussion by Mike Lunoe. BARB JUNGR: HARD RAIN begins performances on Tuesday, October 28 for a limited engagement through Sunday, November 9. Press Opening is Wednesday, October 29 at 7:15 PM. The performance schedule is Tuesday - Thursday at 7:15 PM; Friday at 8:15 PM; Saturday at 5:15 PM & 8:15 PM; and Sunday at 3:15 PM & 7:15 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Single tickets are $35 ($24.50 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or go to www.59e59.org.
Acclaimed singer
Barb Jungr continues to bring the American Songbook into the 21st Century with BARB JUNGR: HARD RAIN, breathing new life into the music of
Leonard Cohen and
Bob Dylan, arguably the best folk/pop songwriters of their generation. The political and philosophical songs by these two music icons make up her hardest hitting set to date. With a song list that includes Masters of War, Hard Rain and Blowing in the Wind, Jungr's celebrated interpretations allow these songs to be heard in brand new ways.
"Their music was so prescient; all of these songs could have been written this morning," explains Jungr. "Both Cohen and Dylan have a visionary quality that they bring to their work, making it incredibly current. They are prophets. And isn't that what performance is for, to give voice to their prophets, to have a communal experience that enlightens us?"
Considered "the finest cabaret singer in recent times" (Rough Guide to Cult Pop, 2003), Jungr's album release of HARD RAIN received ecstatic reviews. Mojo wrote, "As an interpreter, Jungr's ace in the hole is an ability to personalise even age-old familiars like Blowin' In The Wind without resorting to deconstruct mode. Fascinating fare...it's more than alright, Ma." The Sunday Times enthused, "Once again, the British singer finds new paths through what, at first glance, might seem familiar material. Jungr's attention to timbre and nuance brings new depth to every syllable." Jazzwize praised the album's "lyrical jewels a plenty."
The lighting and sound design for BARB JUNGR: HARD RAIN is by J P Perreux and Ted Stafford.
Barb Jungr (performer) is renowned for her unique vocal style, interpretation of song and radical approach to arrangements. Her acclaimed releases on Linn Records and Naim Label, and "revelatory" live performances have brought her to audiences all around the world. In March 2014 Jungr released "Hard Rain - The Songs of
Bob Dylan and
Leonard Cohen" on her own Kristalyn Records label through Absolute Marketing and is touring throughout the UK. Garnering 4 and 5 star reviews for the Hard Rain album and live show, Barb returned to Connecticut for the O'Neill Cabaret Conference in late July as a guest mentor and performer. Prior to her 59E59 run, she appeared at Crazy Coqs in London alongside the continuing national tour. She appeared in a major concert in August in collaboration with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with Corby musicians and singers in the Deep Roots Tall Trees project, of which she is artistic director.
In 2013 Barb toured the UK, performed in Indianapolis, Toronto and New York in the spring, and in Connecticut in July at the O'Neill Cabaret Convention. She toured Australia and performed in the Adelaide Cabaret Festival in the Gala performances and two premier concert appearances, returning to the Melbourne Recital Centre and Sydney's top supper clubs. She co-adapted
Michael Rosen's bestselling book 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt' with Peter Glanville, writing the songs and music for the show which premiered at The Little Angel Theatre and toured the UK in autumn 2013. Jungr performed a sellout season at London's Crazy Coqs cabaret. She contributed a diary to The New Statesman and was a featured vocalist in the highly praised recording of Robb Johnson's Gentle Men. She was a patron of the first ever London Festival of Cabaret which took place in October and November, and she performed in a week-long run at Soho Theatre. In the winter of 2013 Jungr appeared with Mari Wilson in their Woman to Woman shows before Jungr returned to New York to perform in a rave-reviewed sellout season at 59E59 Theater. Jungr appeared on BBC Radio 4's Start The Week, A Good Read and Saturday Live and on BBC4 TV's The Lives and Pain of the Jazz Divas.
"One of the best interpreters of
Jacques Brel and
Bob Dylan anywhere on this angst ridden planet today" (Village Voice, New York) and "one of the best nightclub singers in the world" (Time Out New York), Jungr is "a fearless iconoclast who dives into the deepest waters of popular song to wrest exotic treasure from the ocean floor" (The New York Times). Her earlier Dylan collection,
Barb Jungr Sings
Bob Dylan: Every Grain of Sand (Linn Records 2002), which the Wall Street Journal called "the most significant vocal album of the 21st century thus far", is now regarded as a cult classic album.
Her second collection of Dylan's songs, The Man In The Long Black Coat -
Barb Jungr Sings
Bob Dylan, was released in May 2011 by Linn Records to excellent reviews. She toured throughout the UK and the USA in autumn 2011, performing for the first time in LA and Austin with return appearances in San Francisco and a two-week run in New York.
Born and raised in Rochdale and Stockport, Barb has worked with many of the finest musicians and composers in the UK (including
Mark Anthony Turnage who wrote 'About Water' for her to sing at the re-opening of The South Bank with the London Symphonietta), has toured all over the world with the British Council in the 1990s (Malawi, Cameroon, Yemen, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Cote D'Ivoire, Sudan), appeared in Australia (2006, 2007 and a sellout tour in 2010), toured across Norway and Holland and performs regularly in New York and across the United States (several seasons at The
Cafe Carlyle and Metropolitan Room and Joe's Pub, New York, Catalina's in LA, Rrazz Room in San Francisco, and in Indianapolis and for Austin Cabaret). She is the recipient of the 2008 Nightlife Award for Outstanding Cabaret Vocalist and the 2003 Backstage Award for Best International Artist. Barb also works in the theater and is an acclaimed writer and lyricist.
