Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Walking In The Sun With Barb Jungr, 21 Sep 2006
You know those late English Summer days, right at the end of September, when there is a hint of autumn in the air, the last of the bees buzzing around the last of the poppy flowers and the warmth of the sun on your face, arms and back? That is what this album is like. A little disc of delights from start to finish.
Barb Jungr has picked some of her most loved classic blues and gospel songs for this collection as well as songs by herself, Michael Parker Randy Newman, Jimmy Cliff and Carole King. She is backed by excellent musicians and arrangements, notably jazz pianist Jenny Carr and keyboardist and percussionist extraordinaire Jessica Lauren.
Highlights for this reviewer are Trouble In Mind, Beautiful Life, Walking In The Sun, Drink Me Up, Rainy Day, Take Out Some Insurance, and Run On For A Long Time/God's Song which has a lot to say about our world today.
A life affirming album that makes you think and feel and even dance.
If you have heard Barb Jungr before, you will not be disappointed by her latest project. If you haven't, buy this and I can guarantee to you that you will adore this album and will be researching her back catalogue very soon.
A good mix of gospel, blues, up-tempo jazz and a bit of folk that anyone who loves music will be smitten by.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Like sunshine after rain, 2 Oct 2006
Anyone who is familiar with Barb Jungr's records knows that her singing is informed by and imbued with blues and gospel influences. It might be said that even when she's not singing the blues in a formal sense, you can still tell that she has been listening to them. On her new CD, Walking In The Sun, she has turned more directly back to these inspirations so here she sings songs written or made famous by Bo Diddley, Jimmy Reed and Brownie McGhee. Eric Bibb contributes a song and plays guitar.
As we have come to expect, there are Dylan songs here too. Listen to her voice dance across the uneven surface of Trouble In Mind, and recall as she testifies in the choruses that she has appeared on stage with the Fairfield Four. In the majestic Blind Willie McTell the accompaniment falls silent at the end of the second verse and that voice, now naked and compelling, lays Dylan's vision of the American South before us - the plantations, the whips, the magnolia, and the slavery ships - a demonstration that emphasis and power need not rely on shouting and volume to come across.
There is so much on this CD that is wonderful that it seems invidious to pick out one song as a favourite. Jungr can do sexy (her own Drink Me Up) and sneering (Randy Newman's God's Song). She can do playful (Take Out Some Insurance) and complex. Both the title song and Eric Bibb's Heading Home are songs about triumph over bad times which have such threads of melancholy woven into them that you are torn between rejoicing over present happiness or redemption, and being brought close to tears by what has gone before. There are layers of meaning and subtleties here that aren't going to be exhausted by listening to these songs over and over again. Songs fit to break your heart.
Two of the splendid musicians featured on Walking In The Sun - Jenny Carr on piano and Jessica Lauren on keyboards and harmonica - can also be heard playing these songs live with Barb. If they're playing in your town, go and see them. Hey, if they're playing two counties away, go and see them. You won't regret it.
Neither live, nor on this record, does Barb Jungr wallow in emotion: she transcends it. If you want to hear a woman who sings as if she understands what these songs are about, who can show you the meaning and living heart of the song and make a gift of it to you, if above all you want to hear a singer, then you must listen to Walking In The Sun. Hats off (once again) to Barb Jungr.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
GRAND DIVA BARB JUNGR SINGS GOSPEL AND BLUES!, 24 Sep 2006
I had the honour and pleasure of listening to this CD before its release date. I put on the CD and upon hearing the first notes, my feet started tapping, hands clapping, my heart joyfully jumping to the rhythm. Barb Jungr has put together a collection of wonderful songs, shining precious jewels, the one after the other. Barb's voice seems to get richer and fuller with every CD she records. Just when you thought THIS is her masterpiece, there comes another CD, and again THIS is a masterpiece. It just sounds like these songs were written for Barb, and maybe they were. I DO heartily recommend "Walking in the sun" to everyone -- to fans of Barb, but also to people who may have never even heard of Barb Jungr (although that is hard to imagine) -- a woman with such a voice and talent shouldn't deserve to go unnoticed. Actually, I don't have lots of time to write this review. This CD is beckoning me. I would like to hear it again, over and over again. This is like an addiction, once you hear Barb sing, there is no way back, you just have to follow her as she sings those songs just for you... and draws you into this wonderful mood... Get this CD, you won't regret it. Trust me.
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