Ungar, Jay (14th November 1946-Present)

He is a singer, folk music fiddler, musician and composer born in the Bronx, New York City, who often visited coffeehouses in Greenwich Village and went to North Carolina and Tennessee while in his twenties. He went on to become a member of Cat Mother and the All Night News Boys followed by the Putnam String County Band. He has also performed with the singer-songwriter David Bromberg.

In the 1970s he formed the band Fiddle Fever with the fiddlers Matt Glaser and Evan Stover and the guitarist Russ Barenberg and they went on to release two albums which later have the songs available on CD on The Best of Fiddle Fever.

He started the Jay Ungar Ashokan Fiddle & Dance Camps which was for people who were enthusiastic about traditional American music and dance. Molly Mason became a full partner in the design and running of the programs.

His success came in 1982 when he composed and performed Ashokan’s Farewell each year after the annual Ashokan Music & Dance Camps that he and Molly Mason ran ended. The song was recorded by Fiddle Fever on Waltz of the Wind but achieved public acclaim when it was used as the title theme for the 1990 TV series The Civil War, which won a Grammy Award for the soundtrack and was nominated for an Emmy.

Although having known and worked with the musician Molly Mason since meeting in a club New York in the 1970s, they got married in 1991. The duo perform with their Jay Ungar and Molly Mason Family Band and their other band Swingology.

In 1991 he signed with Angel Records and released American Dreamer which is a collection of Stephen Foster’s songs and the following year he continued with his work in the film studio when he and his wife wrote and performed the music for the soundtrack of the award winning documentary Brother’s Keeper.

Six years later he released Waltzing with You in 1998 and in 1999 Harvest Home was released, which includes the 20-minute orchestral work The Harvest Home Suite where he and Molly are accompanied by the Nashville Chamber Orchestra. Next was A Song of Home in 2002, which featured James Galway before he and Molly veered away from their traditional music and released the album Relax Your Mind with their band Swingology.

In 2006 he appeared with his wife in Seattle at the Northwest Folklife Festival as the headlining act. They have more recently held weekly live concerts on Facebook from their home which they call the Quiet Room.

Sources:

Ungar, Jay (14th November 1946-Present)

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