Music

Watch 'Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man' on AUX TV June 27 at 9PM

by Allan Tong

Not another tribute concert, you ask.

Actually I’m Your Man is a superb homage to singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen. It centers around a 2005 concert at the Sydney Opera House that renown record producer Hal Willner organized. He invited Nick Cave, Martha Wainwright, Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker’s and other Cohen fans to sing the bard’s songs. U2 duets with Cohen is a separately shot performance.

Typically, tribute albums or gigs yield a mixed bag, but there’s not a bad cover in I’m Your Man. Nick Cave’s I’m Your Man kicks off the film in toe-tapping style. Wainwright with Kate and Anne McGarrigle harmonize beautifully on “Winter Lady.” Antony’s vocal in “If It Be Your Will” wrings a hidden pathos out of this religious tune. Rufus Wainwright’s reading of “Chelsea Hotel no.2” is straightforward, featuring back-up vocals and a simple acoustic guitar, but is haunting.

Given his own vocal limitations, Cohen has welcomed different interpretations to his songs. Rufus Wainwright turns “Everybody Knows” into an infectious gay cabaret number. However, my favourite is Jarvis Cocker’s “I Can’t Forget” which starts as a low-key country-and-western gallop and gradually builds into a sonic explosion.

Cohen himself appears between performances, reflecting upon his career from his Los Angeles home. He recalls old friends, such as poet Irving Layton, and recalls how he wrote his anthem, “Suzanne.” Vintage photos, recent drawings, home movies from Montreal, and clips from films such as 1965’s Ladies and Gentleman, Mr. Leonard Cohen illustrate his interviews.

Credit director Lian Lunson for pulling together this labour of love.

Watch the trailer: