Born into a Welsh musical family living in London, Judith Owen grew up surrounded by classical music, ballet, theatre, and the fine arts. Owen was exposed by her parents to many jazz icons and Broadway musicals, and that mixture would become her signature sound. Owen began performing at different venues around London, where her unique sound fusing classical/jazz/musical theatre soon landed her a regular gig at Ronnie Scott’s.
Judith’s new live album “Comes Alive” follows on the heels of her hugely successful 2022 album “Come On & Get It” (over 2.6 Million album streams and more than a million YouTube views). “Judith Owen Comes Alive” – released worldwide in early spring 2024 – features 16 tracks recorded live over a weeklong residency in Bern, Switzerland at the legendary Marians Jazzroom in January of this year.
Revisiting some of the jewels featured on “Come On & Get It” with brand new live interpretations of Lady Be Good, Teach Me Tonight, Down With Love, Skylark, and Fever to name a few new tracks, Judith once again looks to the music of the unsung “badass” ladies of Jazz and Blues.
Owen conceived of the project as a result of her childhood fascination with the Jazz music of some of the so-called “pioneering but oft forgotten women” of the Jazz and Blues world including Julia Lee, Blossom Dearie and Nellie Lutcher – who she discovered hidden on the shelves of her father’s record collection alongside the likes of Oscar Peterson and Jelly Roll Morton. Captivated and enchanted by these “Unapologetic” chanteuses of the 40’s/50’s, who were singing about sex – and enjoying it at a time when women were meant to sing about romance – Owen made it her mission to dig deep and find out more from both a musical and historical perspective. The result is a joyful, uplifting, and empowering project; a throw-back with a fresh feel complete with a look and style that speaks of all those delectable, hugely entertaining women who broke the glass ceiling with their stiletto heels and were ever so proud of it!
Accompanied by her New Orleans Callers, Owen’s live show “...lights up the room. In a snap of her fingers, she takes her audience with her…with a naturalness that is almost divine.” [Toute la Culture] NY critic Roger Friedman exclaimed, “If you love real music, you can’t miss this show.”
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