Judith Owen

On stage and on her album Come On & Get It, Judith Owen has stepped out from behind the piano to sing sexually charged jazz and blues songs performed by women during the repressed 1940s and 1950s. Among them: Mary Lou Williams’ “Satchel Mouth Baby,” Dinah Washington’s “Big Long Slidin’ Thing” and Nellie Lutcher’s “Fine Brown Frame.” This Welsh-born, London-raised artist says this project has given her permission to be her unapologetic self, even as she has written her share of heartbreaking songs and accompanied guitarist-songwriter Richard Thompson on several projects. Owen is an energetic, empowered storyteller as she recalls meeting husband Harry Shearer while he was dressed up as Spinal Tap bassist Derek Smalls, describes their life in New Orleans and asserts that “sexiness is confidence.” (Photo by Rick Guest.)