Barb Jungr CD Release

In May the iconoclastic British singer Barb Jungr, who is best known for her amazing deconstructions of songs by American rockers, is releasing The Men I Love, her new album which she subtitles “The New American Songbook.”  To celebrate the U.S. release of this new title from NAIM Label (distributed in the U.S. by Allegro) on May 11, Jungr returns to Metropolitan Room for a one-week engagement from Tuesday, May 18 to Sunday, May 23.

Her new live show, River, is her eighth engagement at Metropolitan Room, 34 West 22nd Street, since she broke ground there in 2007.  A collection of iconic songs from the late 20th century that rarely are heard in jazz and cabaret rooms, River opens on Tuesday, May 18 at 7pm, playing six shows through Sunday, May 23 at 7pm.  The show includes a number of standouts from last year’s rapturously reviewed The Men I Love, which The New York Times said “sparked a small revolution” when it opened at the Café Carlyle in March, before being reprised for a sell-out run at Metropolitan Room in September.

Stephen Holden of The New York Times has called Jungr’s ability to sensitively re-imagine American blues, rock and jazz standards “a personal deconstruction that strips the material naked so that you see through any disguises.”  But is it true, as Jungr implies with her eye-opening interpretations (that reveal latent emotional content when she dislodges the songs from their original contexts), that many American songwriters from the rock era and beyond are not a breed apart from their predecessors like Gershwin, Kern, Mercer and Berlin? Is it right to have already closed the book (or the door) on the Great American Songbook? Jungr believes it is still being written and that Dylan, Springsteen and Cohen can comfortably sit beside Porter and the rest.

Jungr opens River at Metropolitan Room on Tuesday, May 18 for a week of shows that coincide with the release of Jungr’s hotly anticipated album The Men I Love on May 11.  (River previewed at the Café Carlyle in February/March.)  Performances are Tuesday through Sunday, May 18 at 7pm; May 19, 20, 21 and 22 at 7:30pm; and May 23 at 7pm. The music charge is $25 with a two-drink minimum. For reservations call (212)206-0440 or visit www.metropolitanroom.com.