Judith’s new album “Some Kind of Comfort” available now!
Judith Owen Live in Concert
Tuesday, March 13th, 2012
January 24, 2012
Some Kind of Comfort
Judith Owen has boldly followed her muse, releasing recordings on Courgette Records that have captivated fans, fellow artists and the most discerning critics. Equal parts musicality, personality and wit, Judith’s music combines pop, rock, jazz, classical, R&B and theatrical influences.
Variety effusively described her as ‘a charmer and a seducer, a rocker and a jazz chanteuse’. The Los Angeles Times has portrayed her as ‘a drier, hipper Norah Jones who is whip smart, soulfully cool and deeply introspective’. And from a recent Boston Globe Arts cover story: ‘Owen’s voice is gorgeous. It’s a phenomenally forthright instrument that whispers when necessary and wails when the moment calls for candor.’
Judith is best known to UK audiences as the exquisite voice of Richard Thompson’s 1000 Years of Popular Music and Cabaret of Souls. Jamie Cullum calls her ‘a female Randy Newman’ and The New York Times states that she has ‘the kind of wailing folk-jazz voice that slices away surfaces to touch the vulnerable emotional nerve endings and leave you quivering’.
Her live performances brim with humour and theatrics, distinguishing her from other female singer/songwriters. With worldly wisdom beyond her years, Judith turns suffering into divine lyrical melodies, as she draws on her life-long battle with depression and lays this as the foundation of her latest CD releases Some Kind of Comfort and The Beautiful Damage Collection which features songs from Ruby Wax – Losing It.
January 23, 2012
“The Stage” Review
by Paul Vale
There is a celebratory air as Judith Owen takes to the Pheasantry stage. Not only is the talented vocalist preparing to release her latest album but it is also her birthday, an event Owen marks by allowing her audience of fans the opportunity to request favourite numbers.
To begin with, however, we have an insistent, rhythmic rendition of Eye Of The Tiger, given a greater urgency here and precipitating what turns out to be a deeply emotional journey in song. Owen’s banter between numbers rarely seems wholly relaxed, possibly not helped by a portion of the audience refusing to keep quiet.
Owen wears her heart on her sleeve and her difficulties with depression, family life and addiction are an important feature in her songwriting. Indeed, Some Kind Of Comfort, the title song of the new album is an oblique reference to how, in many different ways, we all self-harm in order to find inner peace.
Owen is joined on the stage by the accomplished Laurence Cottle on electric bass and the sublime cellist Gabriella Swallow, both providing a perfect accompaniment to Owen at the piano.
Certainly the livelier section of the evening’s entertainment is when audience members suggest songs. The feisty Walking The Dog moves the tempo up apace whereas Shine, a touching musical tribute to Owen’s talented sister, is both a popular and moving choice. There is also the melancholic I’ve Never Been To Texas and Here But It Is My Father’s Voice, dedicated to her Welsh, opera-singing father, which brings the evening to an eloquent and thankfully positive conclusion.
December 31, 2011
Read what people are saying about “Losing It”…
“Judith is such an emotional songwriter …she digs deeper than most”
~ Sir Don Black
“Owen, who sits at a piano and has a hauntingly beautiful voice, provides musical interludes and backdrops to Wax’s descriptions of her experiences”
~ The Arts Desk
“Her music adds classiness, texture and dramatic clout to the show, with her haunting voice singing brief but hugely effective refrains to underpin the story Wax so engagingly tells.”
~ Chortle
“Her self-confessed ego both fed and tempered by the presence of singer-songwriter Judith Owen, who makes an admirable straight woman and contributes a deliciously melancholic soundtrack.”
~ The Observer
“Her songs, which punctuate Wax’s wise-cracking act, are beautifully husky and pertinent.”
~ The Express
“The poignant songs expressed a grief words alone could not manage”
~ Theatre Fix
“Hauntingly seductive vocals”
~ Metro
“The songs, which punctuate Wax’s wise-cracking act, are beautifully husky and pertinent.”
~ Daily Express
“Wax is as splendidly rude, brash, acerbic and outré as you’d expect, but she is also, at times, surprisingly tender, self-deprecating and serious”
~ The Observer
“A thoughtful, memorable endeavour from a tour de force talent.”
~ Metro
“Cuttingly hilarious”
~ WhatsOnStage.com
“A theatre show that is warm, funny, inventive… Owen has a hauntingly beautiful voice… The evening is illuminating for those who have no experience of mental ill health and affirming for those who have.”
~ Arts Desk
“Losing It is defined by both poignancy and wit, proving both a touching and amusing night out.”
~ Chortle
“What they modestly fail to mention in the show is that depression and artistic gifts often hang out together. Ruby is captivating and hilarious and Judith Owen’s voice so soulful she could induce heartbreak in a pavement. Genius.”
~ Sally Phillips
“Powerful beautiful stuff”
~ Annie Lennox
“Judith and Ruby have created something extraordinary. I always knew Ruby was the funniest woman alive, but I never expected this to be so raw and emotional.”
~ Jennifer Saunders
“Seeing this has restored my faith that I am well on my way to a nervous breakdown”
~ Paloma Faith
“This is the greatest double act I’ve ever seen. I thought I ought to remind you that last night you was brilliant. Many thanks for letting me come, watch and admire. It’s a snazzy little gem of a show.”
~ Terry Gilliam
“You’d be MAD to miss it.”
~ Kathy Lette
“Incredibly brave and heartbreakingly funny”
~ Harry Enfield
“Absolutely marvelous… Judith’s songs are beautiful.”
~ Ronnie Wood
“This show is too important, too funny and thought-provoking, too touching and inspiring to miss. I recommend it wholeheartedly: it’s fabulous.”
~ Joanna Lumley