This soundtrack features powerful performances of Cohen masterpieces by an outstanding array of today's top singer-songwriters. The tracks on the CD were recorded live at Hal Willner's "Came So Far For Beauty: An Evening of Leonard Cohen Songs", at the Brighton Dome as part of the Brighton Festival 2004 and at the Sydney Opera House as part of the Sydney Festival 2005, except "Tower of Song"featuring Leonard Cohen and U2.Already an accomplished poet and novelist before he ambled into the music business in his mid-'30s, Leonard Cohen has remained as musically influential as he is publicly enigmatic for four decades. This celebration of Cohen's songbook began as a free concert that quickly mushroomed into a star-studded live tribute film shot at Sydney's famed Opera House and Brighton Dome. Musically supervised by Hal Willner (who's produced similar recorded tributes to Mingus, Monk, Rota and Weill), it recasts Cohen's evocative, emotionally uncompromising songs in compelling performances by singers who range from fellow cult heroes Nick Cave and Beth Orton to energetic newcomer Teddy Thompson and even rock gods U2. The latter's powerful collaboration with Cohen himself on the signature "Tower of Song" bookends Martha Wainright's solo opening rendition of the composition, deftly underscoring the project's eclectic artisanship in the bargain. Cave somehow channels the title track through Chicago's South Side via Weimar Berlin, while Teddy Thompson ponders "The Future" with exuberance and The Handsome Family informs "Famous Blue Raincoat" with elegant melodrama. Other standouts include Rufus Wainwright's nouveau Tango work-up of "Everybody Knows," Perla Batalla's gorgeous, Norteño-seasoned "Bird On a Wire" and her collaborations with Cave and Julia Christenson on "Suzanne" and "Anthem." A collection that's both a savvy primer to Cohen's catalog and impressive artistic achievement in its own right. --Jerry McCulley
