Various Artists - Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man

Every time I wrote a positive review of Leonard Cohen back in Madison, WI I used to get hate mail or phone calls from feminists about what a sexist male pig he is. Well, excuse me! No death threats though. Those were reserved for 13 year-old Billy Gilman fans. All I asked was why Billy's band, Nashville Veterans, had to call him "Sir" and pretend to look up to him on that there riser. Looking up to Leonard Cohen, however, is a totally different matter. The kids, as my friend AJ Franks, a 75 year-old jazz pianist, used to call Ian & Sylvia, seem to have no difficulty with that. And Cohen is so benevolent, self-effacing and, as always, hilarious, there's no pain involved. These 16 performances by Cohen acolytes (and who isn't one of those?) such as Rufus Wainwright, Teddy Thompson, Jarvis Cocker, Martha Wainwright, Beth Orton, Nick Cave and U2 (with Cohen), are, as Uncle Lou (Reed) once put it, "the dawning of a new age." There have been other Cohen tribute recordings, and Cohen on others' tributes. Hal Willner's take on Mingus has a Cohen cut. But none even come close. Cut your losses and cash in your cookies for this one instead. Recorded at Willner's "Came So Far For Beauty" at the Sydney Opera House, etc. in 2005 it also includes a cut from Antony, Reed's back-up singer, "discovered" by Laurie Anderson. Suffice it to say: "If Mozart is the voice of God, then Antony is his/her/Krishna's et al's, messenger." Have you heard this man sing "If It Be Your Will" yet? Are you experienced? Then there is Martha Wainwright, a budding Bonnie Raitt who can play guitar and sing maybe even better, though Raitt remains sui generis. That's the thing about this recording. It remains a tribute to a great poet and ordained Buddhist monk, who was "born with a golden voice" and it also takes, in tandem, Cohen to new levels. To have this much love thrown back at you while still around to hear it is divinely to be wished. Perla Batalla and Julie Christensen, two of Cohen's back-up singers, are abslolutely transcendent on "Anthem." Jarvis Cocker nails "I Can't Foget" from the Phil Spector produced "Death Of A Lady's Man." Cohen says the punks took it up and "[his] daughter likes it." All your children like it Leonard. "And I can't forget what I don't remember what." Eat your heart out, Johnny Rotten. Nick Cave was born to sing "I'm Your Man" and "Suzanne," with Christensen and Batalla. And then, there is U2 on "I'm Your Man," redux. Can I be in your tribute if you can be in mine? "There is a hole, a hole in everything. That's where the light gets in." [www.leonardcohenimyourman.com]