Tag Archives: Steve Ullathorne

Barb Jungr Sings Bob Dylan

★★★★

Crazy Coqs

BARB JUNGR SINGS BOB DYLAN at the Crazy Coqs

★★★★

 

BARB JUNGR SINGS BOB DYLAN

“the emotion of her delivery matching the resonance of the lyrics

 

It is often considered a brave choice to rework songs that, for most people, are etched into their memory by the original artist. This is probably most true of Bob Dylan, one of the most significant singer songwriters who, at eighty-one, is about to appear at the London Palladium. Barb Jungr is one of those brave souls who has tackled Dylan. That makes it sound like a challenge, but Jungr approaches the vast catalogue with a purer motive. It is twenty years since the release of her album ‘Every Grain of Sand: Barb Jungr sings Bob Dylan’. Since then, she has said that “my love for the work of Bob Dylan has simply magnified exponentially”. This love and respect rings loud and clear throughout her set at Crazy Coqs. If anything, she has more respect for the material than the writer himself. Iconic phrases thrown away by Dylan are picked up by Jungr and delivered to us with startling clarity, originality and passion.

After opening the evening with a swinging, jazzy, staccato ‘Tangled Up in Blue’, she slips into her role of raconteur. Witty, self-deprecating and unafraid to be ‘naughty’ she is a consummate cabaret performer as well as a fine singer. At one point (jokingly) berating her accompanist, musical director and co-arranger Jenny Carr for not telling her to “shut up and get on with the show”. ‘If Not for You’ follows – Dylan’s love song for his first wife; “written when he was happy” quips Jungr, “a very short period”.

Over the next hour Jungr mixes the well-known with the lesser known, the emotion of her delivery matching the resonance of the lyrics. Dylan’s genius, she points out, is that his songs – some of which were written decades ago – reflect the world we live in today. ‘A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall’ is sixty years old but could have been written yesterday and Jungr delivers it with a soaring intensity; a mix of fury and affection – that has us on the edge of our seats.

Carr’s varied piano arrangements reflect the diverse moods of the numbers, complementing the personality and poignancy of Jungr’s singing. From the gospel tinged ‘It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue’ to the bluesy ‘Mississippi’ and through to the gorgeous, almost whispered love songs, of which Dylan is the finest exponent. ‘I Want You’ is followed by the achingly delicate ‘Sara’.

As her hour on the stage is drawing to a close, Jungr knows we’re not going to let her get away without an encore. “I’m not going off and coming back on” she tells us before singing us out with the lilting ‘I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight’. Jungr is the perfect channel through which to experience the work of Dylan. Of course, in a couple of days you can catch the real deal at the Palladium. There are a few tickets left, so if you have a few hundred quid to spare you could gamble it on one of his famously unpredictable performances. Jungr’s show is far from being a gamble – it’s a sure-fire hit.

Critical opinion of a Dylan gig is famously divided. It has been said that ‘it is difficult to understand what he is doing on stage’, while he has been slated (justifiably or not is another debate) for rendering “the greatest lyrics ever written so that they are effectively unrecognisable”. This charge could never be laid on Barb Jungr, whose singing technique is flawless, passionate and respectful. A triumph.

 

 

Reviewed on 14th October 2022

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Steve Ullathorne

 

 

 

Recent five star show reviews:

 

Diva: Live From Hell | ★★★★★ | The Turbine Theatre | August 2022
Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going To Happen | ★★★★★ | Edinburgh Festival Fringe | August 2022
Mary, Chris, Mars | ★★★★★ | Edinburgh Festival Fringe | August 2022
Monster | ★★★★★ | Park Theatre | August 2022
My Son’s A Queer | ★★★★★ | Edinburgh Festival Fringe | August 2022
Ride | ★★★★★ | Charing Cross Theatre | August 2022
Sap | ★★★★★ | Edinburgh Festival Fringe | August 2022
The Anniversary | ★★★★★ | Edinburgh Festival Fringe | August 2022
Rehab the Musical | ★★★★★ | Playground Theatre | September 2022
Doctor Faustus | ★★★★★ | Southwark Playhouse | September 2022

Click here to read all our latest reviews

 

An Evening Without Kate Bush

An Evening Without Kate Bush

★★★★

Soho Theatre

An Evening Without Kate Bush

An Evening Without Kate Bush

Soho Theatre

Reviewed – 8th February 2022

★★★★

 

“cabaret, comedy, anecdote, parody and vocal virtuosity all rolled into one glorious hour of fun”

 

Most people of a certain age have a first-hand memory of Kate Bush’s ethereal ‘Wuthering Heights’ reaching number one on the UK singles chart. She was just eighteen when she wrote it, in the course of one night, but it secured her place in musical history. So much so that her comeback concert residency at the Hammersmith Apollo thirty-five years later sold out within fifteen minutes. Despite dropping out of the public eye for a couple of decades Bush’s fan base is global and still crosses all generational divides.

You don’t need to be one of those fans, though, to appreciate Sarah-Louise Young’s celebration of the singer in her one-woman cabaret show; “An Evening Without Kate Bush”. You can’t really call it a tribute act; it’s more theatrical than that. It is cabaret, comedy, anecdote, parody and vocal virtuosity all rolled into one glorious hour of fun. You get the impression that Young is one of Kate’s best mates, such is the affection with which she pokes fun at her. It is the kind of mockery born of love and respect, and she pitches it as perfectly.

Perfect pitch is the phrase that also comes to mind as Young’s veiled figure launches into the opening number: a lesser known, haunting ballad that showcases her astounding voice. When the veil comes away, we are introduced to the warmth of Young’s personality and the ease with which she plays with the audience. With a consummate cabaret artist’s skill, she makes us feel comfortable with that dreaded phrase – audience participation. ‘Kate’s not here, but you are’ she tells us as though it’s the next best thing. Her quicksilver wit bears the hallmarks of veteran comic as she wanders through the audience, hilariously improvising, before she weaves her anecdote back onto the stage for another number.

The show follows a series of songs, including many of the classics, in between which she adopts her chaotic characters with their haywire hairstyles, hats, wigs and togs. She brings people onto the stage to slow waltz to ‘Don’t Give Up’, in which she replaces Peter Gabriel’s part of the duet with a stream of Bush reminiscences. ‘Babooshka’ is sung in Russian, correcting the original’s incorrect pronunciation of the title. ‘Hounds of Love’ has us howling like hounds. Dressed as a cleaner backstage at Kate Bush’s Hammersmith gigs she reverently and plaintively gives a heart-warming rendition of ‘This Woman’s Work’, savouring every syllable before slipping back into more moments of comedy and another outrageous costume change. We are encouraged to sing along to the more familiar choruses and even take over completely for the grand finale. As the whole room cries out that ‘it’s me, I’m Cathy I’ve come home…’, Young flails around the stage echoing Bush’s ground-breaking video.

As we already know, Kate isn’t here – but if she were I’m sure she would be loving every minute of the show. You don’t need to be a fan of Kate Bush to fall in love with this performance. You don’t even need to be a fan of Sarah-Louise Young, but you will surely come away being a true fan of them both.

 

 

Reviewed by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Steve Ullathorne

 


An Evening Without Kate Bush

Soho Theatre until 26th February

 

Previously reviewed this year by Jonathan:
Freud’s Last Session | ★★★★ | King’s Head Theatre | January 2022
A Level Playing Field | ★★★★ | Riverside Studios | February 2022
The Devil’s in the Chair | ★★★★★ | Riverside Studios | February 2022

 

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