It seems that Leonard Cohen is becoming one of the sources of material for jazz artists these days. What is the allure? The dark melodies? Dark lyrics? I’m not sure, but he hits a nerve. Here are a couple sources for the newest of songbooks.
A bevvy of singers and musicians get together under the Blue Note flag to give a salute to one of the most important songwriters of the 20th Century, Leonard Cohen. He has had songs that touched the ears and souls of 3 generations, no mean feat. Here, musicians including Bill Frisell and Immanuel Wilkins join in with singers from Norah Jones to Mavis Staples to interpret the easy to interpret lyrics and dark moods of Mr. Cohen.
Both Peter Gabriel and Iggy Pop are dark and throaty in their outings, of “Here It Is” and “You Want It Darker”, respectively. Norah Jones successfully wisps through a well matched “Steer Your Way” and Luciana Souza is fluid on “Hey, That’s NO Way To Say Goodbye”. James Taylor is folksy and fragile on ”Coming Back to You” and Gregory Porter warmly avuncular on ”Suzanne”. Bill Frisell’s guitar is Cumberland Gap rural on “Bird On The Wire”, with Immanuel Wilkins’ alto warm and lyrical for “Avalanche”. A wide range of charcoal-toned sketches.
This tribute to the late great composer Leonard Cohen was recorded over a two day concert at Harbourfront Centre Theatre in Toronto back in 2018. There is a rotating team of vocal guests, backed by Andrew Burashko/p-dir, Sheila Jaffe/vi, Amy Laing/cel, Rob Piltch/g and Joseph Phillips/g in various arrangements. Vocalists include a Gershwiny Sarah Harmer on “Dance Me To The Stars”, a folksy Steven Page on “I’m Your Man”, Tom Wilson tangoing on “Who By Fire” and moody cellos surrounding “Gregory Hoskins on “Treaty” and “Time”. The mood is reverent and somber, with even “Hallelujah” agonizingly revealed by Hoskins and Page. Standards for Millennials?