The wonderful Rochdale born, internationally renowned interpreter of song has responded to AATA's shout out to creative artists with:
'Thank you for your lovely email. I don’t know what I can contribute but I would like to share a press release with you for a track I made with the LGBTQ choir The Fourth Choir to herald a concert we will now have to postpone to who knows when. So when people asked us to release it anyway I was very happy. In My Troubled Days is available for pre-order and from the 10th April can be streamed easily on all the usual sites. If there’s something else you would like me to contribute to AATA I’d be happy to. You are wonderful. I’m in Stockport looking after my mum through this so just down the road!
Barb xxx'
The single: Last spring John McDaniel and I decided to write something for a Gala performance we were due to do a couple of months later and I sat down and looked out of the window. I was feeling pretty low but the trees were in bud and there was blossom, so I went for a walk along the river. And everything I saw made my heart sing. Every flower, every ripple on the water that caught the sun, made my troubles seem so much smaller. When I started a recent collaboration with The Fourth Choir I proposed In My Troubled Days as something we might do together, John immediately wrote the choral arrangement and we recorded it in St. Silas The Martyr Church in Kentish Town just as our world was turning in a direction none of us had foreseen. I played the recording to friends, and without exception they said, please, put this out now. So we are. I hope choirs everywhere will sing it. People everywhere will sing it. I hope our world turns again and the sun shines again and the sad cafes where no-one has the answer fill again. Meanwhile I watch the blossom and the neighbour’s bees and look towards the stars.
Barb Jungr: Widely regarded as one of the greatest living interpreters of song, Barb Jungr’s work defies categorisation. From her early days recording in a studio in a bacon factory, to her current songwriting partnerships with Level 42’s Mike Lindup and John McDaniel and her work as a theatre lyricist, alongside her live performances, Jungr’s varied output of work continues to gain admirers. “Electrifying….the top rank of jazz singers. A true musical alchemist, she is truly a marvel, who should not be missed” - The Telegraph
John McDaniel: Conductor, composer, orchestrator, record producer, Grammy and two-time Emmy Award-winner, John McDaniel was seen leading the band daily on The Rosie O’Donnell Show for its entire six year run. He wrote the theme song and received five Emmy nominations for Outstanding Music Direction and Composition. www.johnmcdaniel.com/
The Fourth Choir was founded in September 2013 by a group of LGBT + singers aspiring to sing classical and modern choral works to the highest possible standard. Led by the highly acclaimed Dominic Ellis-Peckham, one of the UK’s finest young choral conductors, our goal is to represent the LGBT + community on London’s world-class classical music scene. www.thefourthchoir.com "An audaciously ambitious ensemble" - The New York Times
Choral arrangements for this song will be available online on the release date so that choirs worldwide can sing this together.
Credits for ‘In My Troubled Days’ Written by: Barb Jungr and John McDaniel
Performed by Barb Jungr and The Fourth Choir Piano: Jenny Carr/Bass: Dudley Phillips
Choral Arrangement: John McDaniel Choir Director: Dominic Ellis-Peckham