"Hallelujah" and "As Time Goes By"

tom.d.stiller · Post by **tom.d.stiller** » Fri May 09, 2003 3:04 pm

Again I take the liberty to make some part of the NYT available to those of us who don't read it. Stephen Holden writes in an article on "Cabaret, the Champagne of New York":

The downtown circuit, which has few points of intersection
with the more theater-oriented clubs, now draws record
company talent scouts. The clubs include the Living Room on
the Lower East Side, the Cutting Room in the Flatiron
district, the Slipper Room on the Lower East Side, Fez in
the East Village, the Starlight Bar and Lounge on the Lower
East Side and, in Brooklyn, the BAM Cafe in Fort Greene and
Pete's Candy Store in Williamsburg.

A sampling of the downtown performers who have amassed
followings includes David Driver (who performs the Scott
Walker songbook with the Loser's Lounge Band), Raul Midon
(a rhythm-and-blues singer-songwriter and virtuoso
guitarist), Julian Fleisher (offbeat swing versions of
vintage pop, rock and soul hits as well as original songs),
Morley (earthy, cosmopolitan soul with a spiritual bent),
and the singer-songwriters Gavin DeGraw, Jen Chapin and
Rebecca Martin.

For these young performers, the pantheon of songwriting
giants doesn't end at Rodgers and Hammerstein or Stephen
Sondheim, but extends through Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen
(whose song "Hallelujah" has become a kind of downtown
equivalent to "As Time Goes By"), Marvin Gaye, Billy Joel,
Randy Newman, Stevie Wonder and Tom Waits.

(The New York Times, May 9, 2003; bold italics by me)

I shouldn't be surprised if from that scene already some very interesting cover versions of Leonards work unknown to us, unlisted by Jarkko have come to be recorded...

Tom