Reviews
 Keep It Simple
Van Morrison
Roger McGuinn @ the Huntington IMAC, Long Island, NY - April 4, 2008
Emily Saxe @ the Allen Room/Jazz at Lincoln Center - April 5, 2008
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Tift Merritt
Be Your Own Pet
Get Awkward
Paul McCartney – The McCartney Years (DVD)
Juno – Music from the Motion Picture
Various Artists
Yes - Their Definitive Story
Day and Night Driving
Seven Mary Three
InterMedia Arts Center 2/2/08
Huntington, NY
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Leonard Cohen may well be one of the most celebrated songwriters we have these days, but he sure isn’t one of the most prolific. Since 1990, he’s released only three albums of new material, so it is only natural (and fitting) that his fans hang on every word.
Words are Cohen’s currency, but within his relatively small catalog, he tends to be tightfisted, making every syllable count – sort of an ‘inverse-Dylan, if you will. He has also attracted a significant following among the folk artist cognoscenti, and there have already been a few albums and collaborations dedicated to Cohen’s work, but none have been quite as fulfilling as “Leonard Cohen –I’m Your Man.” The CD features excerpts from a film of the same name, which itself was a spin-off of a Hal Willner project entitled “Came So Far for Beauty: An Evening of Leonard Cohen Songs” (you may remember Willner as the compiler of other ‘tribute’ projects containing songs for Disney animation, Charles Mingus, and Thelonius Monk, among others).
“Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man” may be Willner’s most successful project to date, mostly because he lets the music speak entirely for itself. Rather than juxtapose various artists against one another and allowing them to reinterpret the music, this project allows each individual artist to perform Cohen’s songs, usually in a manner that is deeply respectful of the original recordings. The sum effect is truly beautiful.
The Wainwrights – Martha and Rufus – lead the pack with devastatingly gorgeous renditions of “Tower of Song” and “Chelsea Hotel No. 2,” respectively. Each of their interpretations is respectful and yet incredibly personal and heartfelt, to a point where it becomes literally palpable. They each repeat this trick again later in the disk, with definitive versions of “Everybody Knows” and “The Traitor,” adding emotional nuance to songs that already were jam-packed with not-so-subtle innuendo.
Nick Cave is also a brilliant interpreter here – his version of “I’m Your Man” has the unfortunate side effect of displaying how is own material is sometimes lacking when compared to the wit and grace of Cohen’s song.
Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of this collection is how nobody fails; Jarvis Cocker sounds like a virtual carbon of Cohen himself, while Beth Orton and Teddy Thompson each render performances that surpass the occasional mediocrity of their own solo work.
If you are unfamiliar with the man, “Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man” is good enough to serve as a satisfying introduction to the work of Leonard Cohen, especially since Cohen himself appears in tandem with U2, performing an alternate (and extraordinarily effective) version of “Tower of Song.” If you respect the art of songwriting, then you owe it to yourself to hear “Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man.”
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