THAT TIME THIS WEEK'S SHOW WAS AWESOME

This is a reminder of how well rounded late night TV used to be. Back in the late 80's sax player David Sanborn co-hosted a show with Jools Holland, a keyboard guy, called Night Music. The line-ups were varied, from Sonic Youth to Miles Davis, but always seemed geared to music nerds. The episode I just ran across is a good example of the cool-versity: Sonny Rollins, Leonard Cohen, Was (Not Was) and Ken Nordine. Those of you that know those names...never mind, you're not reading anymore.

WHAT FRESH HELL IS THIS?

I was just down by the sea wall at the beach, about as close to a town square as there is here, ample considering the main drag is only three blocks long. The wall is usually inhabited by a mix of locals, tourists, homeless people, seasonal gutterpunks and street musicians. The street musicians are of varying skill levels, usually just good enough to put a hat out, which really isn't saying much.

When I was there the sun was going down and there was the usual crowd of sunset watchers, but where they're usually distributed evenly along the wall, today they were concentrated towards one end which happens to be where a friend of mine hangs with his dog. As I got closer I saw why. There were two harpists set up, which as about as uptown as street music gets. The juxtaposition was striking. This neighborhood is sometimes referred to as "a sunny place for shady people" and true to form, not twenty feet away from the harpists was a fucked up homeless dude cussing up a storm in a one sided conversation. My friend was there, with his dog and a lady friend from Finland so I was chatting with them while the harpists were taking a break. When they started playing again it sounded beautiful, I'm mean, it's harps, what other word does harp playing conjure? Particularly in an area that can sometimes be a chaotic sideshow. After they finished, there was a lull and as the sun lowered in the sky towards the ocean, they started playing again, this time Louis Armstrong's "What a wonderful World". It was goosebump material. I don't get choked up that often, but the combination of the location, the approaching sunset, the song and the harps, I was on the edge. Taking it all in, feeling very lucky to live near the ocean, lucky to know people like my friend with his dog, everything was hitting me from all sides. A window of gratitude and optimism after a shit year of Trump. Pushing me closer to the edge, they followed it with a cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah". My eyes were getting watery, and I'm not usually that much of a softy. After that song I sauntered off, What if they did Kenny G next? That would have changed everything. Really though, if you're a beach person, there isn't a better way to end your last ocean visit of the year. Cheers, Neptune.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Louis Armstrong - What a Wonderful World mp3 at Internet Archive
Leonard Cohen - Hallelujah mp3 at Internet Archive

WHAT A SHITTY WEEK

Leonard Cohen passed away today. I'm not going to bullshit you, I know very little of his stuff; I own but one LP. He is among the many "I'll get to them at some point" artists in my peripheral scope, but he is held in such high regard by friends that I hold in high regard, ranging from brainy crushes to practical deification by songwriters, that I cannot let his passing go without pause. His respected status as some sort of songwriter's songwriter (Dylan covered him), his longevity and his apparent desire to do nothing more than just keep writing and singing, this is one guy that it doesn't quite matter whether I learn his music next month or when I'm eighty, I will get to him more thoroughly when I need to, and I'm looking forward to it.  So, I'll mourn him out of associative respect, like a contact high, except as a contact low.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Leonard Cohen - Bird on a Wire mp3 at DK Presents
Leonard Cohen - Almost Like the Blues mp3 at Sucks Pants
Leonard Cohen - Memories mp3 at Cold Splinters
Leonard Cohen - Sisters of Mercy (Live) mp3 at The Helpless Dancer
Leonard Cohen - Three more at Aquarium Drunkard
Visit:
Leonard Cohen: 20 Essential Songs at Rolling Stone
Leonard Cohen Dead at 82 at Rolling Stone

LEONARD COHEN LIVE

Leonard Cohen aged gracefully, from early Dylan comparisons to elder statesman of songwriting, without giving much thought about record sales, airplay or any brand of hipness. I mean, he practically makes Dylan look like a sellout. He's an artist's artist, and he'd probably still be doing what he does, even if it meant playing coffeehouses for decades on end. And with those calm emoting hand gestures he does up near the microphone, it's really no wonder all literate women love him. He can do more standing in one place then Jagger or Iggy Pop can do hurling their osteoporosis bound bodies all over the place.

Here's a few live cuts from a 1993 Zurich show. The quality is really clear, and the arrangements about as good as it gets. This stuff is timeless. Check out the entire show, and four other live cuts at Captain's Dead (the same site that posted a slew of live Tom Waits stuff a while back).

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Leonard Cohen - I'm Your Man (live) mp3 at Captain's Dead
Leonard Cohen - Anthem (live) mp3 at Captain's Dead
Leonard Cohen - Joan of Arc (live) mp3 at Captain's Dead
Leonard Cohen - I Tried to Leave You (live) mp3 at Captain's Dead
Leonard Cohen - Closing Time (live) mp3 at Captain's Dead
Leonard Cohen - Twenty four live cuts at Captain's Dead
The Leonard Cohen Files - Exhaustive site, with contributions (unpublished poems and artwork) from Cohen
I'm Your Live Man -Catalog of known live and radio recordings (no audio files)
The Leonard Cohen web ring - Multiple fan sites