Photo Credit: Claude Dufresne
The 2017 concert celebrating the life of Leonard Cohen is now available on Canada’s CBC Gem as a documentary, “Leonard Cohen: If It Be Your Will.”
Just a year after legendary Canadian songwriter Leonard Cohen passed away in 2016, numerous artists and fans gathered at the Bell Centre in Montreal to honor his contributions to the industry. The concert was a touching tribute full of music and memories celebrating one of the greatest lyricists of his time.
Now, that unforgettable night has been released as a new documentary, “Leonard Cohen: If It Be Your Will,” available to stream now on CBC Gem.
Curated by the Leonard Cohen Estate, the film features intimate footage of Cohen reflecting on pivotal moments in his life. His son and collaborator, Adam Cohen, pays tribute to his father with behind-the-scenes moments and home videos, as well as interviews with family and friends.
“I grew up next to this enormous tree and my fate was to be in his midst,” says Adam. “My father was incredibly generous and didn’t have this feeling of self-importance. His music does live on, the thing that he was so grateful for. ‘Thank you,’ he would say, ‘for keeping my songs alive.’ And the world is doing that.”
Adam Cohen can be seen taking to the stage to perform some of his father’s songs, backed by Cohen’s original band as well as musicians from the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.
The concert further brings Cohen’s songs to life with a lineup of stars including Sting, Elvis Costello, Lana Del Rey, The Lumineers, Courtney Love, Damien Rice, Patrick Watson, and more. The film also features commentary and cameos from Bruce Springsteen, Peter Gabriel, Celine Dion, and many others.
“He had this kind of wisdom that we all crave and had a way of translating it into the human realm, into the human mindset,” said singer k.d. lang, who performed a rendition of Cohen’s most well-known hit, “Hallelujah,” which also became a hit for lang herself. “And [he] did it with such generosity and such kindness, and humor, that he really, to me, he was a translator of the gods.”
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