Published Six Times/Year
April 2005

JUDITH OWEN *** (3 stars)
Lost And Found
(Century of Progress)

Owen’s mellow jazz relies on her delicate vocals.

With her latest effort, Judith Owen calls in a few favors from musician friends Cassandra Wilson (whose sultry voice accompanies Owen on “Enough”) and Tom Scott (whose saxophone ever-so-faintly accents “Sky High”). Lost And Found is classic Owen: sparse instrumentation allows her to focus on her vocal quivers and expressive lyrics. Her laid-back coffee-shop take on “Smoke on the Water” is blissfully free of classic rock’s most grating riff, and she lingers through a soul-bearing delivery of the jazz standard “These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)”. But “Train Out of Hollywood” spotlights her most striking quality – those tender vocals.

- Catherine Lewis