BY BRAM EISENTHAL

“There’s a crack in everything … that’s how the light gets in,� writes Leonard Cohen in his song, Anthem, which Annmarie Delaney and Linda Jewers lovingly crooned as the opening number of a very special program in tribute to the music of Montreal’s internationally-renowned troubadour poet.

Evening of Leonard Cohen’s Poetry and Songs, mounted at NDG’s financially strapped Frasier-Hickson Library last Friday night, was certainly that … and so much more. The bard, whose imperfect vocals are balanced by the beauty of his lyrics and his timeless charisma, often writes of sad lives filled with cracks, but where the light of life and love ultimately shines through. That light attracted a lively crowd of 170 to the library’s upstairs auditorium, virtually every seat filled.

They came for another reason, as well. The Quebec Association for Adult Learning (QAAL) sponsored the evening, a fundraising vehicle that will make the Dawson College Scholarship for training in nonviolent communication possible. This will be awarded to adult educators or counsellors at Dawson, leading to what is hoped will be a greater understanding of, and healing from, the horrific violence that occurred there recently. More than $10,000 has been raised from donors to date, including the concert audience.

Heart was what this occasion was all about, that and an overabundance of talent. It was conceived by QAAL’s special events chairman, longtime Leonard Cohen fan Elizabeth Paulette-Coughlin, whose

17-year-old sister, singer, songwriter and musician Deborah, was killed by a hit-and-run drunk driver in 1972. The event showcased the impressive abilities of local musicians, including Delaney and Jewers, Cora Butler-Kim, Vivienne Deane, Rob Lutes, Michael Coughlin, Cicela Mansson, Tammy Bailis, Dan Delaney, as well as well-known West End music teacher and performer Jeffrey May, who helped produce the show and was also its unofficial emcee.

The accompanying musicians, double bassist Adrian Vedady, drummer Elijah Baker and violinist François Boucher — who performed like Jean-Luc Ponty — with Deane accompanying on piano on several songs, were terrific. Each and every vocalist shone, with performances that the 72-year-old Cohen himself would have been proud of. Indeed, a prevailing rumour the day of the show was that he would in fact show up, but alas, he was there in spirit only. A crowd-pleasing 17 of his hits were performed, including Suzanne, Famous Blue Raincoat, Is That What You Wanted, Tonight Will Be Fine, Winter Lady, Everybody Knows, Like A Bird on a Wire, Dance Me to the End of Love, Take This Waltz, and If It Be Thy Will.

Additionally, Lutes, on Take This Longing, Butler-Kim, on her own unique arrangement of Who By Fire, Deane, on First We Take Manhattan, and firecracker Bailis, on No Way to Say Goodbye, really distinguished themselves. Paulette-Coughlin dedicated a soulful Sisters of Mercy to the memory of Deborah, who would often accompany her on that very song when it was performed by their folk-singing group. The fitting finale, Hallelujah, was remarkably rendered by Michael Coughlin, in moving, beautiful fashion.

Some members of the audience, which spanned a wide range of ages and backgrounds, knew Cohen personally in relationships harking back decades. Actor and real estate agent Adrian Blazevic, 30, recalled his kindness when Blazevic was a young child. “He used to pick me up from Bancroft elementary school and walk me to Cookie Restaurant downtown,� Blazevic said. “I remember he bought me one of my first comicbooks, The Empire Strikes Back. He was always very nice to me.� Blazevic added he has always enjoyed Cohen’s “silky, sexy voice� and appreciated his allure, especially for women.

“The question for us at QAAL became ‘how can our educational community support another educational community that is suffering the effects of this terrible violence?’� said Paulette-Coughlin. “What

better way, it was decided, than a creative, collaborative, generative evening of the poetry and music of Leonard Cohen, a beloved Montreal icon, held in one of English Montreal’s most important community learning institutions, the Fraser-Hickson … and from the revenues, providing a scholarship to study non-violence.�

Judging from the tremendous response, what better way, indeed.



• To donate to the NVC Scholarship Fund, contact QAAL at qaal@alcor.concordia.ca or call 514-848-2424, ext. 2033.