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Stories   >   Each of the performances on Art of Time Ensemble's 'Songs Of Leonard Cohen LIVE' is simply stunning / American Songwriter

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Each of the performances on Art of Time Ensemble's 'Songs Of Leonard Cohen LIVE' is simply stunning / American Songwriter

Posted: December 8, 2022

The 13 Art of Time Ensemble tracks on this album were recorded live in concert as part of a Leonard Cohen tribute in 2018. Over three nights, this tribute also featured 15 Canadian authors and poets many of whom knew Leonard Cohen personally. These shows were deeply emotional, and it shows in every single performance.  “In choosing the songs for this tribute, I wanted to cover the entire span of Cohen’s career, showcasing both, well- known classics and lesser-known tracks such as “Come Healing” and Treaty” from very late in his career. I also, very deliberately chose a diverse group of composers and arrangers with disparate sensibilities to create a very distinct aesthetic universe for each song. The singers on this album are all veterans and icons of the Canadian pop music scene - all forces of nature in their own right. Their passion for these songs shines through in every performance.”        - Andrew Burashko 

The singers each have their own international careers and are all veterans of the Canadian pop scene: Steven Page, Sarah Harmer, Tom Wilson, Sarah Slean and Gregory Hoskins. 

Steven Page is the founder and former lead singer of Barenaked Ladies. He went on to pursue a solo and enjoys success internationally. Recently, he was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Sarah Harmer is a platinum selling Canadian singer, songwriter. Time Magazine called her debut album “the best debut album of the year”. Tom Wilson is a member of the Nashville based roots band called Blackie and the Rodeo Kings and former lead singer of the band Junkhouse. As a solo artist, he continues to tour regularly throughout North America.

Sarah Slean is an acclaimed Canadian singer, song writer, actor and film composer. She has been nominated for multiple Juno and Gemini awards and has received a Screen Actor’s Guild of Canada award for her co - scoring the TV series Detention Adventure. Gregory Hoskins fronted the popular Canadian folk rock band The Stick People in the 80s and 90s. Since then, he has enjoyed a successful performing and recording career spanning 30 years. He collaborates regularly with Art of Time Ensemble.  The arrangers include nine composers from the pop, jazz and classical worlds including the English composer Gavin Bryars, and all the arrangements explore the intersection of popular song and chamber music, featuring some of the best instrumentalists in Canada.  


American Songwriter's LEE ZIMMERMAN writes….There are few artists more revered and consistently covered than the late Leonard Cohen. And for that matter, there are few groups that are more imaginative and distinctive than the Canadian collective known as Art of Time Ensemble. Their musical mantra takes in a diverse array of sounds and styles, from classical and jazz to influences that are often shared in a theatrical context that’s well within the realms of their diverse delivery.

Founded by Andrew Burashko in 1997, the group is, in fact, a sprawling collective that attracts contributors skilled in a variety of artistic disciplines. As a result, the thirteen tracks that pay homage to Leonard Cohen, recorded over three nights in 2018, convey an emotional heft and abject insight that allows each entry to reflect the emotional resilience that Cohen’s catalog deserves. It’s a varied group of artists that share the spotlight—Steven Page of Barenaked Ladies, folk chanteuse Sarah Harmer, roots rocker Tom Wilson, composer, singer, songwriter, and actress Sarah Slean and veteran folkie Gregory Hoskins—but each share in the bond brought by Canada’s vast musical community.  

Consequently, each of the performances is simply stunning, all providing a dramatic delivery and, at times, an operatic-like approach that soars on the strength of strings and both a stirring and sensual tone.  Slean’s delicate vocals on “anthem,” the emotive presence and graceful sway found in Page’s take on “A Singer Must Die,” Wilson’s solemn and subdued reading of “Closing Time,” and Hoskins’ sobering yet sincere “Boogie Street” recall the grace and grandeur that Cohen created as both a singer and songwriter. As a result, the performances ring and resonate throughout.


While there’s some variation within the choice of material, for the most part, all share a dramatic delivery that can be as moving as it is memorable.  Page’s turn on “I’m Your Man” becomes the album’s most upbeat entry, a decided contrast to the indelible impression he and Hoskins leave with an otherwise austere “Hallelujah.”

Ultimately, Art of Time Ensemble provides the rich and remarkable tribute that Cohen decidedly deserves. A substantive set, it pays due homage to this poet’s lingering legacy.


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