Keith James in concert: The Songs of Leonard Cohen

These remarkable songs – stripped back, honest, naked and sensual.

‘There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in’ Cohen’s most memorable and visionary line from his song “Anthem”. If ever there was a sentence in modern poetry to reflect on and give hope and understanding to us all, it is this line. This Concert begins with “Anthem”.

Enigmatic, mysterious and sub textural, songwriter Leonard Cohen was an unflinching character, with an exact sense of prose, wry humour and the courage to wrestle with the unspoken, forgiving human frailty and indulgence with the stroke of each word.

The very beginning of Leonard Cohen as a songwriter happened during the 1960’s on the Greek Island of Hydra where he met Marianne Ihlen, the love of his life. He was spending his time on Hydra writing a novel and a collection of poetry; it was Marianne who encouraged him to turn many of the poems into songs; Bird on a Wire being the most notable.

The chilling announcement of Leonard’s death marked the end of an era. His music befriended an entire generation. Within every line of his writing, he has been challenging us to listen more carefully, speak more thoughtfully, think more deeply and recognize our own vulnerability. Our World misses him very much.

With a lifetime reputation of performing in this exact way and an undying love of the ‘pure song’ Keith James gives you a concert of Cohen’s amazing material in the most intimate and sensitive way imaginable, exposing the solitary inner strength of his greatest songs in their original perfect form. Keith has performed an extensive tour of this concert in Theatres and Arts Centres across the UK, giving over 550 concerts to more than 150,000 people. This has proved to be ‘life changing’ and one of the greatest honours in Keith James’ 50 year career.

Included in the concert are Cohen’s well-known songs: “Famous Blue Raincoat”, “Sisters of Mercy”, “Suzanne” and “Hallelujah” alongside his rarer and profound writing such as If it be your will, “Joan of Arc” and “Secret Life”. Also included are Keith’s dramatic performances based on the work of Federico Garcia Lorca – Cohen’s greatest influence. Keith has also transcribed into song one of Leonard’s poems from his collection ‘Book of longing’ written whilst on retreat during the 1990s.