Album Review
Barb Jungr – Stockport To Memphis
The album title From Stockport To Memphis describes the metaphorical journey taken by acclaimed songstress Barb Jungr from the town she grew up in to the most famous music town of them all. It’s explained in the title track, one of five new songs, which go along with some fine interpretations of tracks by some very famous names.
Jungr is usually describes as a jazz, cabaret or night club singer, and there is a big production in many of these songs. There are also elements of blues, soul and pop – and it takes a special voice with great versatility to sing with such variety. Barb Jungr does it with great style, backed by some fine musicians.
The lively New Life is a lovely song, the vocals backed by a piano and trumpet. Jungr is upbeat and sprightly in this song, which sounds autobiographical. Urban Fox is slower, strings giving it a sombre feel. It’s a wry take on urban life. Sunset To Break Your Heart has expansive vocals that create pictures, the lovely imagery of the Isle of Skye portrayed vividly.
The title track is the best of the original songs. Stockport To Memphis has a bubbly rhythm, the jazzy vocals backed by a bluesy harmonica that flits in and out. The call of the Mississippi is heard by a young girl in a northern town, shaping her future and so she goes off to chase her dream. There’s a soulful air and great vocal harmonies backing a strong and powerful lead vocal.
Barb Jungr covers a vast range of songs, always putting her own stamp onto them, and the tracks she takes on here are no exception. Sam Cooke’s Change Is Gonna Come is slow and beautiful, a piano driven ballad with some lovely harmonica. The Joni Mitchell classic River becomes a jazzy and powerful melody, subtly different from the original. And Neil Young’s Old Man takes on new life with higher pitched vocals.
Hank William’s Lost On The River has a slight country edge but the low pitched vocals give it great energy and depth. The album closer, Tom Waite’s Way Down In The Hole, is sultry and fervent. Close your eyes and you are in a smoky club late at night. But perhaps the best of the covers is a superb, passionate version of Dylan’s Lay Lady Lay. Jungr’s vocals are pitch perfect, backed by an organ and piano in a lovely arrangement.
This is a fine album that offers real contrast between the original songs and the covers. Both are sung with authority and Barb Jungr’s beguiling tones make every song worth hearing. She is a natural performer and shows all of her vocal dexterity in this great collection of songs.
A very good video on the making of the album can be seen at [link]