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Barb Jungr

Walking in the Sun

Linn AKD 283

After the Brel-, Dylan- and Elvis-themed material on previous albums, Barb Jungr returns, via a number of musical detours, to her first musical loves, blues and gospel, on this characteristically thoughtful, considered selection.

Beginning with Bo Diddley's 'Who Do You Love?', and concluding with Carole King's stirring 'Way Over Yonder' by way of two Dylan songs, a couple of achingly lovely originals and pieces by the likes of Jeff Barry, Brownie McGhee, Eric Bibb and Jimmy Cliff, she excels herself throughout a rich and varied album.

Utilising the whole of her extraordinarily versatile vocal range, her tone ranging unaffectedly from the triumphantly, joyously affirmative through the dreamily contemplative to the touchingly confiding as the songs require, Jungr does not so much breathe fresh life into her material as emotionally inhabit it, infusing (to take just one instance) Randy Newman's apparently unequivocally sardonic 'God's Song' with a subtle blend of poignancy and pathos inherent but not immediately discernible in the composer's more overtly acerbic version.

Warmly recommended for anyone interested in the mysterious alchemical process that produces a uniquely moving song, often from superficially unremarkable lyrics and music.