"I am obsessed with the piano," confesses singer-songwriter Judith Owen. "I can't put it any other way. I own five pianos. If I
walk into someone's house and there's a piano, I immediately have to excuse myself and go over to see it, like it's a dog. I literally
get goose-pimples when I'm around a piano."
The Welsh-born Owen may be single-minded when it comes to her instrument, but not when it comes to her music. Her five
albums veer effortlessly from jazz to rock to pop, all delivered with sly intelligence and dramatic verve.
Besides pursuing her solo career, Owen has been performing alongside singer-guitarist Richard Thompson in a production
uniquely suited to her uncommon stylistic range. "It's called 1,000 Years of Popular Music," she says. "It goes from Gregorian
chant to Britney Spears in two-and-a-half hours. We touch on opera, folk music, music hall, jazz, and rock and roll, all the way
to the present day. I'm the pianist and female singer—the 'diva,' basically. It's thrilling, because I'm such a huge fan of Richard."
Owen credits her father with inspiring her passion for so many styles. "He was
an opera singer and also a great pianist. He sang in the choir at Covent Garden
Opera House for 37 years, and I went every weekend from the time I was five.
Hearing the orchestra made me cry, beam, and then cry some more. Then I'd go
home and imitate those chords on the piano.
But Judith and her family were hardly classical snobs. "My father was a blues,
gospel, and jazz fanatic," she recalls. "He was crazy for jazz piano and the great
jazz singers."
The other big influence, says Judith, was simply being Welsh. "It's a hideously
broad generalization to say that all Welsh people can sing. But we really do have
a love of music and a desire to sing. My grandparents were miners and steelworkers,
but they named my father Handel Ludwig Owen, because Welsh people
name their children after people from the Bible or musicians. That's how
important music is in Wales. The other part of being Welsh is our sheer love of
melancholy."
Melancholy? Judith's albums are often flat-out funny, thanks to oddball cover
versions of such unlikely material as Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water" and
Spinal Tap's "Christmas with the Devil." And she's married to one of the wittiest
men on earth, Spinal Tap bassist and Simpsons vocal stylist Harry Shearer.
"I know many funny people," says Judith, "and I stand by the notion that the
unhappiest people are often the funniest ones. Melancholy people have a great
need to laugh and see the strange, humorous side of all things."
Judith plays a Yamaha C7 grand piano at home and in the studio. "I just happen
to be a C7 girl" she says. "It's the piano that sounds exquisite for the type of player
I am. When I record with my C7, I'm happy as a pig in mud."
But onstage, Owen opts for a digital piano. "I prefer an electronic keyboard at my
shows because I have to face the audience," she explains. "A lot of my expression
comes from my face, and it's too hard to establish intimacy with the audience
when you're behind a behemoth of a piano, facing sideways. So I needed
a keyboard with a great piano sound. I didn't care about the other instruments,
or anything else that would make me into a crazed nerd. I just wanted the
sound."
The answer? A Yamaha S90. "Like a lot of obsessive, hardcore pianists, I find it
painful how bad most keyboards sound. That's why I was so relieved when I
found the S90. It feels good. I'm confident with it. I enjoy playing it. The S90 isn't
a real piano, but it's very, very close."
Owen says her upcoming sixth album, Here, will be a change of pace from last
year's jazz-influenced Lost and Found: "I'm returning to that classic pop place,
which I truly love."
Expect more amusing cover tunes. "I recorded 'Black Hole Sun' and 'Eye of the
Tiger.' What attracted me to those songs is the fact that they're great songs. But
I also like to cover songs like that because the more testosterone and male
thrust they have, the more I want to turn them into something sexy and female."
Here gave Judith's Yamaha pianos a workout. "It's a very piano-centric record,"
she notes. "I mean, lots and lots and lots of piano. I use the piano for overdubs,
as if it were a full orchestra. As a kid, I loved the piano's orchestral quality. I still
love that about the piano. I love it. I love it, I love it, I love it!"
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