What sort of music does Leonard Cohen play?

[oh-gosh]

Leonard likes the music of Marianne Faithfull, that I know. But what else???

[Mabeanie1]

Oh-gosh - you are beginning to look very familiar.

[holydove]

Re: the "European" influence in Leonard's music: My knowledge of this is very tiny, but I feel compelled to mention a few things:

We know that Leonard's guitar playing has strong Flamenco influence. The development of Flamenco is said to have a mix of influences, i.e. Spanish (Andalusian), Gypsy, Byzantine, Sephardic, Moorish, Latin American & Cuban - & that's just the guitar. Leonard's singing seems to have a mix of influences: he has said his singing connects with a tradition in Montreal called "speak-singing" (whether that also has French origins, I don't know); there also seems to be Flamenco elements in his singing; & as he said, there is the Synagogue Cantor influence. Also, his parents were from Russia/Poland, & he has said that he grew up hearing his mother singing Russian melodies & the implication is that he has incorporated this into his singing also (although Russia is not technically part of Europe, Poland is Eastern Europe, & Poland was part of Russia, & I would include this in the analysis.) I could be wrong, but I hear Middle Eastern/Greek elements (esp. in the oud/laud/bandurria playing of Javier Mas & John Belyzikian) - maybe this is connected to the Moorish influence in Spain, esp. for Javier - I don't remember where Belyzikian was from). Also, Leonard's time in Hydra gave him exposure to Greek music. Raffi Hakopian was from Armenia, & his violin playing seems to have strong Eastern European flavor. Also, European music would include Western Classical music, & Leonard had classical piano training, & I think he incorporates some of that in his guitar playing.

That's all I have time to write at the moment, but obviously, Leonard's music is extremely complex, & I always tell people, when they ask, that Leonard's music is so unique (I don't know of any other artist who has incorporated so many elements, so brilliantly & so beautifullly), that it cannot be put into any category at all.

Wendy, your question about European music is a very good one, very complex & very interesting - it got me to thinking about all of this, so thank you. . .

[remote1]

Thanks for your analysis Holydove; very enlightening as always!

I just wanted to add, about the French origins, that LC describes himself as a chansonnier, which I think refers to singer-songwriters who sing what the French call chansons à texte, i.e., songs in which the lyrics are crucially important, more so perhaps than the music itself (a background strum can do). Perhaps this can be translated as "text songs"... Famous representatives of that particular genre are Georges Brassens in France and Jacques Brel in Belgium, but of course there are lots of others.

All the best!

[holydove]

[quote="remote1"]
I just wanted to add, about the French origins, that LC describes himself as a chansonnier, which I think refers to singer-songwriters who sing what the French call chansons à texte

Thank you, remote1! After I made that post, I was remembering that Leonard used a (very common) French word with "chanson. . " in it, to describe himself, but I couldn't remember the exact word, or the spelling of it (!) - so thank you for mentioning it!! (Although I've been studying a French 1 course for our trip to France, that word hasn't come up - maybe it will be in the French 2 course!) And I would think that the chansonnier tradition has French roots, at least to some extent; in fact, there are French ballads (& British ones too) from as far back as the Middle Ages, that have elements similar to aspects of Leonard's songs. (Once one starts looking, it just goes on & on, infinitely deep & infinitely wide. . .)

Cheers. . .

[sebmelmoth2003]

marianne faithfull was on women's hour this week - audio below :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00f3psg
--------

also on today's robert elms show - about half-an-hour into the programme - should be at bbc iPlayer in due course.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/art ... ture.shtml

i think leonard might like nikki yanofsky if he ever encounters her.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikki_Yanofsky

she was on the robert elms show - - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00dj59q#p00f4dcq

[sebmelmoth2003]

nikki was also on `the strand` - bbc world service.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00dpq9z#p00f5bhg

someeone told me that she was also on itv's this morning but i can't find anything about her there.

[denise knowles]

I have alway told people who have never heard of L.C, He is in class of his own. He has own style. You cannot put Mr Cohen in a box.

[Kieren]

My answer has always been:
He sings story songs while painting intricate word pictures.

That is an outstanding way to put it!

[Etienne Muller]

Singer, poet, musician, genre,.... It matters not. Leonard Cohen communicates, In a most sophisticated way. I would love to have him at a dinner table.

Etienne

[MaryB]

Leonard Cohen communicates, In a most sophisticated way. I would love to have him at a dinner table.

Etienne

As we all would Etienne Welcome to the forum!

[madhu]

Dear friends, I would like to suggest two great musicians from Indian Classical music who are very much resemble to Leonard Cohen in style and culture. They are M.D.Ramanathan and Ustad Amirkhan. I welcome fans of Cohen to the music of above mentioned stalwarts.

[madhu]

May I know whether any critical study published on the music of Leonard Cohen?

[madhu]

I am engaged in a research work on the music of Cohen. Kindly help me to gather articles on Cohen. Please inform me in case any authentic biography of Cohen has been released.

[margaret]

There many many articles if you go to the main website www.leonardcohenfiles.com

Look down the left hand side to open more links, especially bibliography, and articles and interviews.
One of the best biographies is Various Positions by Ira B Nadel, but this was written some years ago and does not include more recent information.