Barb Jungr – Every Grain of Sand – The Arts Desk

Barb Jungr has been beavering away in cabaret, theatre, TV and music for decades, her name cropping up alongside everyone from Julian Clary to Billy Bragg, but she's perhaps best known for her interpretive singing work. Among the best-known of such ventures is her first album of Bob Dylan covers. Released on vinyl for the first time, Jungr doesn't go for the obvious numbers but brings her own (and arrangers Simon Wallace and James Tomalin's) jazz, chanson and even gypsy stylings to songs such as "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight", "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" and "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright". Arriving with a 12" x 12" photo/notes insert, Jungr's versions are an acquired taste, veering in places towards easy listening, but with the spikiness of Dylan's lyrics piercing the smoothness sufficiently, and her clean enunciation allowing the songs' poetry to shine.