Leonard Cohen - Oberhausen 2008

Written by Sebastian Huhn Monday, 03 November 2008 17:22

König-Pilsener Arena, Oberhausen, Germany
2nd November 2008
Leonard Cohen
LEONARD’s first musical experiences date back to the late 1940s and early 1950s when he was playing in cafés and later with a Country Folk band named BUCKSKIN BOYS, then he focussed on being a writer for some years before he returned to America in 1967 to start a career as Folk singer. He had his first time appearance as singer on the Newport Folk Festival in 1967. Producer John Hammond discovered him. The debut ‘Songs of Leonard Cohen’ emerged out of this collaboration and became a great success in the folk and songwriter scene, comprising three of his most famous songs to date ‘Sisters of Mercy’, ‘So long, Marianne’ and especially ‘Suzanne’. With the following ‘Songs from a Room’ he cemented his standing among songwriters and with ‘Songs of Love and Hate’ (1971) he delivered his saddest album to date. His 1984 release ‘Various Positions’ one of his more religious albums comprises the often covered ‘Hallelujah’. After his most political album ‘The Future’ (1992) Cohen retreated to the Mount Baldy Zen Centre near Los Angeles, beginning what would become five years of seclusion at the centre. In 1996, Cohen was ordained as a Rinzai Zen Buddhist monk and took the Dharma name JIKHAN, meaning 'silence'. He left Mount Baldy in 1999. ‘Ten New Songs’ (2001) was his first album in almost ten years. Until now he’s released 12 studio albums and a new one is expected before the end of 2008. http://www.leonardcohen.com/

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