Monday 4 December 2017

Mermaids Lions and Liver Birds



Spent nearly a week in Northampton working with a wonderful team of people and performers to premiere our stage vision and version of Julia Donaldson's great children's book, The Singing Mermaid. Our mermaid is a puppet, one of many in the show made by Lyndie Wright of The Little Angel Theatre. Our premier was on Saturday and the show runs till mid January at The Royal and Derngate Theatre in the beautiful market town of Northampton. I even liked the Travel Lodge there, our temporary home. This is a magical piece and we are all proud of it, watching the children absorb it on saturday was a treat.

https://www.royalandderngate.co.uk/whats-on/the-singing-mermaid/

for tickets. Its for children under 7 but there are all ages there. Couldn't be prouder of it and our circus family.




Next its up to Manchester to open How To Hide a Lion at The Royal Exchange there for Christmas. We made this for Polka Theatre for Christmas 2016 and it tours later next year in 2018. Its a gorgeous show and I cannot wait to see how people like it in my old home city.

https://www.royalexchange.co.uk/whats-on-and-tickets/how-to-hide-a-lion

for tickets and information. And here's the promo video.


And at last tickets are on sale for Liver Birds Flying Home which opens in April of next year.

https://royalcourtliverpool.ticketsolve.com/shows/873582230/events


Meanwhile I have some singing to do - all the January US dates are now up on my website here

http://www.barbjungr.co.uk/live.html

See you somewhere soon! Happy season of wonderful.

Saturday 18 November 2017

Michael Parker has left the building - Honouring a great musician and friend.



For many years I toured with Michael Parker, both in the Three Courgettes, here's a couple of tracks, one we made for Island Records and the other for the Ze Christmas Album.




We had our photos taken for The Face by the legendary Sheila Rock - here we are in that session super cool and extraordinarily young!



and then as the duo Jungr and Parker. There's a smashing obituary of him in We Are Cult, here.

http://wearecult.rocks/michael-parker-1958-2017

They've kindly included links to some sound links but my favourite is the song we write together, "No One Else Could Ever Wear Your Shoes", here


There's some things on iTunes - Blue Devils one of our classic collections including The Launderettes Song and in the next couple of months I will put some more of our old back catalogue up.

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/blue-devils/974596330

And there was another nice obituary here

http://wyrefarmed.blogspot.co.uk/2017/11/michael-parker-renowned-musician.html

Michael and I travelled all over Africa together giving concerts and workshops for The Britotsh Council in the early 1990s.

Michael and I in El Obeid, Sudan.


We toured with Julian Clary

Julian Clary, me and Michael Parker in the Joan Collins Fan Club days.


and Alexie Sayle and won a Perrier Award in Edinburgh with Arnold Brown. I can say hand on heart working with Michael was like taking a degree in music, he taught everyone who worked with him so much, largely through his own enthusiasm and love of and for, music and musicians.  And he was funny and a great asset to any tour bus!



And all of it comes Right Out of The Blue, always, so here's a Jungr and Parker track with that very title!



He will be sadly missed but his family, friends and everyone who was lucky enough to have had him in their lives.

Sunday 22 October 2017

old tracks surface on youtube soul boys and lovers of camp come all ye

So finding old things I don't even have copied of is a wonderful thing, thank you you tube and fans. There's this, which was released 1983! 1983? I can barely remember it. I mustve been there I guess, because I know I wrote this and remember recording it in the middle of the night, when we could get free studios down time in the big studios all over London. Thank you friendly engineer friends! Funnily I feel the lyric of this as acutely as the day I wrote it.


Then there's this. One of the first things my then husband and I recorded. Noteworthy also because I played the bass, wrote it and we recorded it in the bacon factory.


And a day wouldn't be a day without sharing a bit of the work we all did with Julian Clary. So here's Mincing Machine and there I am with very short hair indeed. And alot younger.



So thats today's sharing.

I've been remiss about blogging, but thats all changing.

More to come!

Postscript - Very saddened to read of the passing of NY cabaret favourite Barry Z who interviewed me for his channel in 2007. Its here, and I want to say thank you, Barry, for all you did for all of us, and for your enthusiasm and madcap craziness, which everyone loved.



Monday 26 June 2017

Sting, Beatles New York City, Liver Birds and more

New York is full of sunshine. I'm at my great friend Jane's house after a few days at John's in the sunshine working on the new material. Ran every day there down to the beach and back up the 200 stairs up the cliff to John's. Then a little rest in the sun.....



The beach walk was always glorious. Its on the Long Island Sound, and the air is fresh and clear.

Wading River Beach front
Then to the city, simmering in the summer sunshine.



And back to the fabulous Joe's Pub at the Public Theatre in downtown NYC for the opening of a new collection John McDaniel and I have been cooking, looking at the work of the prolific and in my view, underrated, Sting, or Gordon Sumner as he was. We opened last week and go a 5 star review straight away in TheaterLife.com which is pretty wonderful. Its here -

http://theaterlife.com/float-like-a-butterfly-the-sting-project/

And luckily we managed to get a little bit of video from the first night. Here's a snippet of Roxanne from Float Like a Butterfly - The Sting Project.



Today I managed to get an appointment with The Best Bodyworker in NYC George Russell, and of you are here and have anything body related to check on he's your man.

http://www.georgerusselldc.com

He's coming to see the show this week - we have 2 more of the shows at Joe's, Tuesday and Thursday.
Tickets are here

https://www.publictheater.org/Tickets/Calendar/PlayDetailsCollection/Joes-Pub/2017/B/Barb-Jungr/

and here's a snippet of King of Pain from the show -


Then we are off to The Kate Theatre in Connecticut to sing the Beatles show Come Together, again.

http://katharinehepburntheater.org/events/barb-jungr-john-mcdaniel/

and then to Razz Room at New Hope.

http://www.therrazzroom.com/event/d463aa4d87c43b37133eeebe73d45200

Earl Dax who does our US bookings did a beautiful photo thing for us to celebrate working together again.



Must not forget the end of May Lover Birds Flying Home musical showcase, which I've been working on with the wonderful Mike Lindup from level 42, and George Seaton and James Seabright. Have written the story, too. Really had fun doing that with George and Linda. So we all trooped to Liverpool and put a showcase on to a packed house at the Epstein Theatre, with total standing ovation as a response. Now we have to do some more work on it and hopeful we can open next year. Watch this space. Here's a beautiful photo John Hollingsworth took at the tech rehearsal.

John Hollingsworth's fab photo in Liver Birds Flying Home rehearsals in Liverpool

And thats the week (and a bit of May!) in short. More sooner than later this time, I haven't done any writing for a while and I feel some coming on. Till then, happy summer wherever you are.


Thursday 9 March 2017

spring tour Dylan on the road again things I've seen and am reading

Out on the road again with Jenny Carr on keys and sometimes also Dudley Phillips on bass to celebrate the release of the re-issued CD and newly available vinyl of Every Grain of Sand, the album I made for Linn Records in 2002, now 15 years ago - time flies, I guess.


Am singing this on the road -



Berlin press spotted by our friend and host, esteemed theatre and opera director Robert Chevara on the metro, he took a photo of it.

Die interpreter has given alot of food for comment on Facebook

So the dressing room selfie series is back again in full swing. Here's one from Northampton, of all 3 of us.

Jenny, Dudley and I in our stage togs ready to go get 'em


And I forgot to take one at Milton Keynes where the dressing room at the Stables was a conference room, hilariously. But here's one in Berlin, at Bar Jeder Vernunft.

Berlin a go-go

We have a ton of tour dates to come, get tickets now, and all info is here

http://www.barbjungr.co.uk/live.html

And meanwhile How to Hide a Lion is up and running for 2 weeks at The Little Angel Theatre.


It stares Clare Eales White and Phil Yarrow and I can't love it more.

And on the recommend side, went to see Wayne McGregor's Tree of Codes, go if it comes anywhere near you. Spellbinding.



Recommended by Mark Ravenhill I'm reading Barbara Pym and loving it. And there's a new Bryant and May on the way, so this is a good book month.

And its spring. And that always works for me. Nothing like some daffodils in Green Park to brighten up any gloomy day so here are some for you. Happy spring!



And Happy Rainbows, the pot of gold is inside you!


Monday 2 January 2017

Happy New Year! New York dates some videos and more....

Its a new dawn, its a new day, its a new life.....

and we are in New York celebrating the release of Come Together for 3 nights at Don't Tell Mama on January 8th, 9th and 10th. And at the APAP Gail Boyd artists showcase at the Yamaha showroom on Saturday 7th  preforming at 2.30 and I'll be there agaon with Matt Baker at 4.30 previewing our new Float Like a Butterfly - The Sting Project.

Don't Tell Mama 3 shows only January 2017.




Here's a little preview of Matt Baker and I in rehearsal.....


Meanwhile how to Hide a Lion continues to sellout at Polka Theatre and runs till February. If you have small children I can't recommend it enough. Here's a taster....



Starring Clare Eales White and Phil Yarrow I'm so happy to have been a part of this wonderful production.

The Beatles CD featured in top ten lists of 2016 as did Shelter From the Storm (Jazzwise top new CDs of 2016)





And the website has been revamped and has news and shows available for booking and more.

www.barbjungr.com

And if you want to hear a lovely radio show about music, comedy and women, there's this

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b085h5cg

So, lets get cracking. See you in New York this January. Its time for awakening.