Stepping into the dark, glimmering lounge at Dublin’s Avenue already seems to take you back in time to a jazz-club era, making it the perfect venue for Judith Owen and her band. We’re sitting in velvety, swivelling chairs, all around tables lit by candlelight, as she weaves her way through the audience to the keyboard. The band, made up of the brilliant bassist Leland Sklar, percussionist Pedro Segundo and cellist Gabriella Swallow, opens with “Train Out of Hollywood,” from the 2014 album Ebb and Flow, which sets the stage for the rest of the evening with its elegant and jazzy melody. After another old favourite, “I’ve Never Been to Texas,” they play Owen’s newest album, Somebody’s Child, straight through in its entirety. Though it’s a unique way to approach a performance of new music, you have to wonder why more artists don’t present a new album this way. It gives Owen the opportunity to introduce each song to the audience, and she does- unforgettably so. From the tragic inspiration of the opening track “Somebody’s Child,” written about a homeless girl Owen encountered on the street, to the more upbeat “Send Me A Line,” which Owen explains is about her inability to think twice before posting on social media (we’ve all been there), each song has its own story.
It’s the band’s second night not only here in Dublin, but playing at Avenue, and they seem to be enjoying their time in Ireland. As Owen explains, her Welsh heritage connects her to Ireland, though there is a distinction between the two. “Being Welsh is almost like being Irish, but without all the fun,” she tells the audience. “You’re just born depressed, there’s no fun, there’s no craic. Which is great, though, for the music.”
The new record also has some familiar covers, including a soulful rendition of the 80s classic “More Than This,” as well as a version of Hair’s “Aquarius” that includes a solo from cellist Gabriella Swallow. The gig itself also has some old favorites, including a sing-along of “In the Summertime,” for one of the final songs. “We’ll leave you with this one, I hope it keeps you warm until summer, Dublin,” Owen tells the crowd, “you know, those two days of it you have each year.” That’s not the end of it, though, as she returns to close the night with an encore performance of the Beatles’ “Blackbird.”
Owen balances between the comical and the melancholy with each song, and to hear her tell it, that’s all part of the experience she’s trying to create. “I wanted the evenings to be really complete so that people would laugh, and they would cry, and they would feel all these emotions, they would feel it all,” she explains to me after the gig. “And, in between the songs, because some of the songs are very serious, I need to relax. I’m a very serious person who needs to laugh a lot. That’s how I always describe myself. And I feel the same way about the audience. It’s funny cause at first they don’t expect the storytelling, they don’t expect for it to be like they’re in my living room and I’m just talking to them. But I can’t not talk to them, honestly, so at this point it’s just part of the show.”
Being in a smaller, more intimate venue such as Avenue definitely makes it easier for the audience to connect with the artist, and though it seems like Owen and her band could put on a great performance anywhere, the “living room” setting of a smaller venue suits them well. Not only does it seem to improve the connection with the audience, but the band is free to take the time to show their improvisational skills. Owen steals her share of the spotlight with both her music and stories, but ultimately it's the collaborative power of her and her band that makes each performance unique. There is a casual, free energy to the way that they approach each song, which, as Owen explains, is where the true jazz, and true music, lies. “Where the jazz comes into it is when the musicians bring their personality into my music,” she says. “I don’t want people to play the same notes every night. Music is about feeling, and whatever mood you’re feeling that night, wherever you are, that’s what comes through. And that’s real music. That’s living music. There’s not much of it around anymore I know, there’s less and less of it all the time. So I think it’s more important than ever to do this, to take the time to connect in this way.”
Judith Owen is wrapping up her European tour through the month of November. Details and tickets can be found at www.judithowen.net.