No Cole Porter. No Rodgers and Hammerstein. No Duke Ellington. No Steven Sondheim.
At an evening billed as cabaret?
Will you trade them for Bob Dylan? Or Paul Simon? Or Bruce Springsteen? Or Hank Williams?
Barb Jungr did, editing "The Great American Songbook" into her latest album, "The Men I Love: The New American Songbook," which provided most of the music for opening night of her concert run that began last night at the Kranzberg Arts Center and will continue thurough Saturday.
The English singer, using composers of the last third of the 20th century, put on an effective and interesting show, but a very different for those who have been fans of the St. Louis cabaret scene. Opening with a rousing version of Marc Cohn's "Walking in Memphis," and moving to Dylan's "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere," Jungr gave immediate notice that her music and style would be very different than the traditional cabaret lineup.
Jungr also proved herself a fine story-teller, wide-open and expressive as she talked of growing up in England after the "birds" of Carnaby Street had left their nests. Her last stop before St. Louis was Cleveland, and she related how impressed she and her music director/accompanist, Simon Wallace, were with the rock-and-roll hall of fame, but were most impressed with what was not there. She also pointed out that she was impressed and Wallace bored with the clothing displays, and opposite feelings were held about rock stars' cars.
Wallace, by the way, has worked a lot with former St. Louisan Fran Landesman and reported that she was still writing.
Jungr also delivered well on a Johnnie Johnson favorite, "Breaking Down the Walls of Heartache," and shifted into sadness for Simon's "My Little Town." Emotion ran high in Springsteen's "The River," and while she began the Jimmy Webb classic, "Wichita Lineman," in wonderful style, she took it over the top with too much drama. Finesse and style returned with Williams' "The River of Life," a superior closing number.
The singer is halfway through an American tour, which opened in New York and will close in San Francisco next week before she returns to England for the holidays. It's a different take on cabaret for St. Louisans, but it's a strong and entertaining perfomance.
Barb Jungr sings from "The Men I Love: The New American Songbook," at the Kranzberg Arts Center, through Saturday at 8 p.m.
—Joe