Leonard Cohen's son promises 'perfect cast' of artists at upcoming concert

Fans of beloved poet and singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen are converging on Montreal from all over the world as Nov. 6 approaches the date for a star-studdedcelebration of Cohen's music,Tower of Song: AMemorial Tribute to Leonard Cohen.

The homage concert, at Montreal's Bell Centre, will be broadcast across Canadaon CBCRadio 2 the night following the concert, on the anniversary of Cohen's death, Nov. 7, beginning at 8 p.m.

The list of artists is still not complete.

"The complicated thing has been trying to limit the [number]of artists on stage. Because we don't have until Christmas, it's just one night," said Cohen's son, Adam.

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Honing down dream list of artists

Adam Cohen said he and his team came up with about 20 songs they knewhad to be performed, and then they contacted their dream list of artists.

"We ended up calling hundreds of people to get to the perfect cast," Adam said.

"We had all these coloured postcards on a wall, and we kept moving them. It was very exciting, actually."

That list of artists includes BRNS, Cur de pirate, Elvis Costello, Lana Del Rey, Feist, Philip Glass, k.d. lang,Sting and many more.

Aside from the radio broadcast and coverage on CBC.ca, CBCTelevision is also scheduled to air the show on Jan. 3, 2018.

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Coming home

It was Leonard Cohen's wish that any public commemorationbe carried out in his hometown, and atribute concert seemsa perfect fit.

Cohen had longsaid he enjoyed hearing other artists interpret his work.

In this 2008 CBC interview before a tribute concert at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, Cohen talks about other artists covering his songs in Montreal.

7 years ago

Duration 0:46

Leonard Cohen: Everybody Knows was a musical tribute featuring renowned Canadian and international acts.

He told CBC in 2008 that he found his own voice "very limited," and it left him feeling that the music was somehow unfulfilled.

"To fulfil it and manifest it so beautifully and so skillfully means a lot to me," Cohen said.

Around that time a Montreal International Jazz Festival tribute to him was in the works, and Cohensaid the fact thata tribute concert was taking place in Montreal, a place he knew so well, was "a great privilege, a great honour."

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Giving back to young Canadian artists

Proceeds from the Tower of Song concert are going to threearts-granting bodies: the Canada Council for the Arts, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Qubec, and the Conseil des arts du Montral.

These arts councils helped sustain Cohen financially in his 20s when, despite his publishing success, he still couldn't make enough money to survive as an artist.

In 1959, he received a grant from the Canada Council which funded a trip to Europe that endedin Hydra, Greece.

It was in Hydra that heboughta house, wrote, and methis muse, Marianne Ihlen.

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A week of Cohen events

Nov. 6 is also the dayMontreal's Muse d'art contemporain (MAC) is opening its doors to CBCfor an exclusive sneak peek of its long-plannedexhibition Leonard Cohen: A Crack in Everything.

CBC Montreal will be offering a tour of the exhibition on its Facebook page and website Monday afternoon.

Cohen biographer Sylvie Simmons, the author ofI'm Your Man, will also be at the MAC Monday foran interview the public is invited toattend. More information is available here.

Thatinterview will air on CBC Radio One Nov. 12 at 3 p.m. ET during a special episode of Writers and Company with Eleanor Wachtel.

The MAC exhibition opens to the public Nov. 9.

• Leonard Cohen to be revered at Montreal's Museum of Contemporary Art