Here It Is - A Tribute to Leonard Cohen

I became a huge fan of Leonard Cohen's music about 10 years before his untimely death and have loved every note of it ever since!

So I was thrilled when I heard about this project - A tribute to his music; performed by some of my (other) favorite musicians... AND given a decidedly jazzy interpretation from the producer Larry Klein & the wonderful folks at Blue Note Records.

The album was coordinated by producer Larry Klein, who became a friend of the great songwriter during the 1990s & the 2000s, and he assembled a stellar band of jazz artists – Bill Frisell on guitar, Immanuel Wilkins on sax, Kevin Hays on piano, Scott Colley on bass, and Nate Smith on drums -- to back ten different singers interpreting Cohen's songs.

Klein's approach gives Here It Is a coherent, unified sound that feels like an album rather than a collection of stray tracks. The players are all in superb form, and Wilkins and Frisell each lead an instrumental performance, pointing to Cohen's gift for writing melodies and not just words. With the exception of Iggy Pop, whose gritty, weathered voice brings out all of the sinister undercurrents in "You Want It Darker," the singers on the record have contributed to honor the beauty of Cohen's music. Different fans of Leonard Cohen's work will have different opinions about the tone of this work and its focus on one facet of his songbook at the expense of others. But there's no arguing the best performances here are wonderful and show off a keen understanding of these songs and what makes them work, especially Mavis Staples' yearning "If It Be Your Will," Luciana Souza's sweetly mournful "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye," and Gregory Porter's cool but deeply felt reading of "Suzanne." Even the lesser performances (most notably Peter Gabriel's "Here It Is") show these artists know these are great songs, and they approach them with care and obvious admiration.

My favorite tracks are the mournful "Seems So Long Ago, Nancy" from David Gray, Sarah McLachlan's subdued reading of the Cohen classic "Hallelujah," and "Coming Back to You" which is performed by James Taylor with an almost unidentifiable vocal - It had me scrambling for the album credits just to see who was singing the track - Just marvelous!

Here It Is: A Tribute to Leonard Cohen doesn't tell us all that's worth knowing about Cohen's music, and in all fairness that's clearly not his goal. Here, Larry Klein and his collaborators explore the light that seeps in through the cracks, and what it reflects is splendidly crafted and a heartfelt homage to a singular talent.

Check out "Coming Back to You" from James Taylor:

..."Hallelujah" from Sarah McLachlan:

...& "Seems So Long Ago, Nancy" from David Gray: