Relax with Leonard Cohen

By: Jay Minkin
Date: 05/05/2009
If you feel like heading out on the highway and looking for adventure, cruise to the Motor City this weekend for a very exclusive performance by the great Leonard Cohen at the historic Fox Theatre on Saturday night.  Yes, I know that’s easier said than done.  So, the next best thing is to bring Mr. Cohen into your living room with his newly released Live in London performance on CD or DVD.

  I didn’t previously own any of this Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame inductee’s body of work, other than a copy of Jennifer Warnes’s Famous Blue Raincoat and the obligatory Jeff Buckley version of “Hallelujah” from the Grace album. But after I heard the opening song “Dance Me to the End of Love,” I felt like I was at the show and was ready to give a standing ovation. 

Then I realized that I was driving.

The brilliant sound of the CD captures the 74-years-young master with an incredible band and additional background vocalists.

 Cohen’s deeply philosophical and religious undertones are highlighted in songs like “The Future,” “First We Take Manhattan,” and “Everybody Knows.” His signature songbook numbers “Suzanne,” “Bird on the Wire,” “Tower of Song,” and a seven-minute plus rendition of “Hallelujah” are all part of the 26-track recording. 

 So buy a nice red Cabernet, turn down the lights, and sit back to enjoy the show in the comfort of your home on either a HiFi stereo or HDTV.

Another must-have recording is the beautiful duet of Buddy and Julie Miller’s Written in Chalk. Buddy Miller is the consummate sideman with his endless travel schedule for Allison Kraus and Robert Plant’s Raising Sand tour or “3 Girls & Their Buddy” with Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, and Shawn Colvin.

Collaborating with his wife, Julie, the rich vocal duets are accompanied by great players Larry Campbell, Stuart Duncan, Chris Donohue, and John Deaderick, with background vocals from Griffin, Harris, and Plant. Songs like “Ellis County,” “Gasoline and Matches,” and “One Part, Two Part” make it one of this year’s Americana
masterpieces

.Reach Jay at blues4bird@aol.com.

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