Jazz

Barb Jungr Ronnie Scott's, London ...#8706;...#8706;...#8706;...#8706;...#8706;

Singer Barb Jungr natters to the audience about the "wide church that is jazz". She doesn't mind admitting Amy Winehouse into the congregation, for example, but "some people are well dodgy!" The audience looks a bit puzzled: many would think that Jungr herself is so far up the cabaret end of the jazz spectrum as to be off it altogether.

Jungr's latest project is Hymn to Nina, a tribute to Nina Simone, the great musician who routinely "fell between the cracks", reaching out to rock, pop, jazz and soul listeners without ever staying in any genre but her own.

Tonight, Jungr evokes Simone's memory through repertoire rather than emulation. Simone was an inspired curator - she had taste and talent for reinterpreting and reimagining in a way that made good songs great. Jungr sings these songs - Black Is the Colour... , Ain't Got No, To Love Somebody - in her light, clear voice, adding a few twists and tweaks of her own. Angel of the Morning is "the other side of Maggie May ... could be the story of Bet Lynch". There's a touch of the soap barmaid about Jungr herself, a beady-eyed brassiness both endearing and annoying.

Dylan's Ballad of Hollis Brown has a clever, delicate arrangement, with repetitive piano, mbira and restrained soprano sax from Mark Lockheart. The medley of One Morning in May and The Pusher makes original use of an electronic Indian drone box and hand drums. However, Feeling Good, with its Stax-like strut and wailing harmonica, is less effective.

The best numbers, such as Just Like a Woman (the title of her forthcoming album) and the encore of Here Comes the Sun, employ beautiful, three-part vocal harmonies from Jungr, pianist Jenny Carr and multi-instrumentalist Jessica Lauren - recalling Jungr's early career in the Three Courgettes. As befits the cabaret genre, Jungr's band is highly disciplined, resisting the temptation to over-egg such a strong repertoire, and the audience lap it up.