Jay Ungar (born November 14, 1946) is an American folk musician and composer.

Life and career

Ungar was born in the

Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

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. He frequented

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

music venues during his formative period in the 1960s. In the late 1960s, he became a member of Cat Mother and the All Night News Boys and later, the Putnam String County Band. Although he performs with

David Bromberg David Bromberg (born September 19, 1945) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. David Bromberg biographyat Billboard.com An eclectic artist, Bromberg plays bluegrass rock, blues rock, folk rock, jazz rock, country rock, ...

, he is probably best known for " Ashokan Farewell" (1982), composed as a

lament A lament or lamentation is a passionate expression of grief, often in music, poetry, or song form. The grief is most often born of regret, or mourning. Laments can also be expressed in a verbal manner in which participants lament about something ...

, and used as the theme tune to the

Ken Burns Kenneth Lauren Burns (born July 29, 1953) is an American filmmaker known for his documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle American history and culture. His work is often produced in association with WETA-TV or the Nati ...

documentary '' The Civil War'' (1990). Many of his other compositions are familiar as contradance tunes, notably "The Wizard's Walk." In 1991, Ungar married fellow musician Molly Mason. They met during the 1970s. They continue to perform as a duo, with their band, ''Swingology'', and as the ''Jay Ungar and Molly Mason Family Band'' with Jay's daughter and son-in-law, Ruth Ungar and Michael J. Merenda Jr. In 1992, Ungar and Mason provided the soundtrack to the acclaimed documentary film '' Brother's Keeper'', released as a music CD entitled ''Waltzing with You'' (1998). In 2006, the duo headlined the Northwest Folklife Festival in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

References

External links

Jay Ungar & Molly Mason
''www.jayandmolly.com''
Folk Alley Sessions: Ashokan Farewell
Kent State University, Ohio, 2011. via ''YouTube'' American folk musicians American fiddlers American male composers 21st-century American composers 20th-century American Jews Living people 1946 births Angel Records artists Musicians from the Bronx 21st-century American violinists 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American Jews {{US-music-bio-stub