Just bought this gorgeous disc on Manfred Eicher's classy ECM label. Impeccable recording November before last in Lugano in collaboration with RSI Rete Due. Really brings out the courtly love/troubadour aspects of Our Man's early work. Samplable on iTunes. Highly recommended to anyone who likes Earl...

Yes, a very enjoyable interview and accompanying pieces. Just been listening to the CD, too. Nice to hear these youthful voices' takes on what are, for many of us, especially in the original versions, pretty much sacred songs - and 40+ years on at that. The rather stoned and strung-out version of Te...

Got my LP+CD this morning in London (UK), posted in Nashville on 26 January, apparently, and sent via Slough by the USPS and TNT. Fortunately, I've been listening to the iTunes version for a week or so. Will know not to bother with the pre-order malarky next time! Let's hope any others still waiting...

I don't think this has been noted here yet, so: SUN 15th CHRISTINE TOBIN “A Thousand Kisses Deep - Christine sings Cohen” One of the foremost UK Jazz singers for more than 20 years, Award winning vocalist Christine Tobin just gets better and better. With 9 cds, numerous gigs and a number of high pro...

Great review, John! I was pleased to get a centre seat up on the balcony, even though I only arrived just before 9.00. I thought they were, to quote Our Man, 'sublime'. Perhaps the mix could have favoured the voices a little more? Knowing the words from the albums helped but some of their diction go...

Thanks for this, Andy. Much better sound than I remember from the At the Beeb bootleg, which I'll try to dig out now. It's striking how upbeat yet unhurried Bird on the Wire and You Know Who I Am sound. I wonder if we'll get an offical release one day. (I won't be holding my breath, though!)

This album is clearly a must-listen for all forum members, not least because - according to the review in the current (Aug) issue of The Wire magazine: "As it turns out, Cohen's lyrics seem totally incidental, and old Leonard is swallowed up into the belly of the rhythm beast that was Muslimgau...

Well, the two are often conflated, like English and British (unfortunately). Besides, Canadians are North Americans, aren't they? Leonard's early poem about nationalism - the one suggesting that Canada enter into talks to unite with the USA and then pull out at the last minute, etc - implies he has ...

Hmmm. I see the link isn't working now, so, for posterity: it was to a choral concert - 'American Classics by Candlelight' by the St Bart's Chorale, I think - at St Martin in the Fields in London tonight. Apart from pieces by Barber, Lauridsen, Rutter and Whitacre, they're doing a ditty called Halle...

Saw this concert advertised by Trafalgar Square this morning:

http://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/j ... nd=concert

He's in great company.

Oops! It's on Radio 3, not 4. Anyway, glad to see it's accessible well beyond these shores!

"Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman recalls the words of Leonard Cohen's song Suzanne, and how they dressed a generation of young women." http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00xwjcp (15 mins - iPlayer is still only available in the UK, I think) I missed this but caught a snippet on a pick-of-the-...

Thanks for that, Hadley. I've just ordered his 2003 (!) album of the same title. Could be perfect summer listening. Have a nice one.

An 'a'pealing' rendition, indeed, Adrian! Rather a 'free' transcription, though, don't you think? How many - even very ardent - Cohenophiles, I wonder, would recognise The Great Man's ditty amidst the clangs? Anyway, always a pleasure to hear this rare and difficult instrument in action. Thank you.

Ten letters, begins with H:

http://www.classicfm.co.uk/shop/craig-ogden-guitarist/

Not just a classic but now a standard, it would seem. I'm looking forward to hearing it in lifts (elevators) for the rest of my days!

Do forum-mates know of any other voice-free covers?