Sunday 14 July 2019

Rise and Shine,life and gigs, mud and blood.

Just back from seeing my ex Father in Law, the now legendary Frank Bowling. We were chatting in the late afternoon sun about this and that, my now long gone husband was Frank's son, and finally I said, "Life...." as you do. To which Frank replied "Mud and blood. Its what we are and its where we end up." I love conversations that end with something as good as Mud and Blood. He had another wonderful one for me today, I said "people!" when we were talking about a reprobate from the past. "Yes" said Frank, "they get wet in the rain and they dry out in the sun." Frank's exhibition is on, as it were, the pyramid stage of Tate Britain, and its something else. Go if you can. Its there till September and you will find a feast of brilliance, colour, emotion and beauty that may well stop you in your tracks. It stopped me in mine and I've known Frank 40 years. So it was a lovely visit with Frank, Rachel and Frederik, Frank's grandson.

That followed another excellent long meeting with Nate, who is taking over alot of my shambolic communications and focussing me on what I have to do so I don't have to do other things not very well. This can only be a good thing. As life rumbles on it seems to me that I'm only actually fit to write songs, sing them here and there, and write musical theatre. I used to think I could perhaps work with trees. But realistically I don't like dirty hands and I think tree work pretty much is going to make demands of your hands that sitting in theatres doesn't.

I could be a driver. Though the problem with driving is, as Andy Goldberg once told me, since travel days are calorie free I'd soon have to have 2 seats. Whenever you go on a long drive, as I did recently with the family to and from Cornwall, which is beautiful partly because its far away, you have to have crisps. Thats potato chips if you are reading this in the US of A. And sweeties. And fruit. And then you have to stop and have lunches where you rarely say to yourself, go on, I'll have a salad. More like, oh chips! Oh well, go on. So the driver thing could become perilous.

With my mum in Cornwall

Cornwall was absolutely beautiful and I discovered an elemental truth which is if, every morning, you force yourself up and down a cliff, then you can go for as many delightful white wines overlooking the sea as you want. On the other hand on my return I am wondering if shortly I'll need new hips....

Up a cliff, blood pressure on full alert 

So this week I go to Berlin with Jenny Carr to play at Bar Jeder Vernunft, 2 shows, with a collection drawn from all over the repertoire to celebrate women, the falling of walls and freedom (pertinent the current climate) and love.

https://www.bar-jeder-vernunft.de/en/programme/overview/barb-jungr.html




I'm looking forward to having a free day to walk around the gardens and explore the city more. Its a city I'm learning to love more and more. Level, elegant tree lined streets, cafes and bars that come alive at midnight. Glorious architecture and history in every stone.

And Rise and Shine, the first track from the new album, Bob, Brel and Me, is available now on all these platforms for streaming and downloading and I'd be ever so pleased if you would buy it. I wrote it with Mike Lindup of Level 42 and recorded it with Jamie Safir on piano, Rod Youngs on drums, Davide Mantovani on double bass, Mark Lockheart on sax and Pete Horsfall on trumpet. If you like it please feel free to tell the entire world. We love it. And I'll be singing it in Connecticut in August and Edinburgh. Here you go with the links -

https://listnin.co/RiseAndShine


And I'm reunited with the gorgeous John McDaniel in New York at the end of this month, singing Sting at Birdland, here -

https://www.birdlandjazz.com/e/barb-jungr-john-mcdaniel-float-like-a-butterfly-the-songs-of-sting--60817674301/



Edinburgh tickets are on sale already - 24th August - here

https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/barb-jungr-bob-brel-and-me#overview

So,  grab a copy of or a listen to, Rise and Shine. Book tickets for Berlin, Birdland New York and Edinburgh. And have a Quite Great summer!