Leonard Cohen was a singular musical voice, enjoying a career as a revered singer-songwriter that spanned five decades until his death in 2016. Canadian by birth, Cohen drew a devoted following across Europe and North America with his gravelly voice and haunting hymnals.
Along the way, he released 15 studio albums and sold nearly nine million records, ending up in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and also receiving a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (not to mention every honor imaginable from the Canadian music industry and government).
His music, his life, seems the stuff of legend. After all, Cohen gave us “Suzanne,” “I’m Your Man,” “Bird on the Wire,” “First We Take Manhattan,” “Everybody Knows,” “Dance Me to the End of Love,” and the seminal anthem “Hallelujah.”
He wrote poems and novels, romanced Joni Mitchell on a Greek isle, and partied with Andy Warhol in the late ’60s. In truth, looking over Cohen’s remarkable award-winning career and hearing the timeless music, the legend label seems deserved.
Now imagine the challenge facing any singer today who dares to take the stage for an entire evening, hoping to do justice to that music, while encapsulating Cohen’s life and creative influence—a performing bird on a high wire, of sorts.
Up the ante, because the singer in question got her first big professional break as a backup singer for Cohen in 1986 and was mentored by him for 30 years. Understandably, she wants to get it right.
The audience can judge for themselves when Grammy-nominated singer Perla Batalla brings A Letter to Leonard Cohen, Tribute to a Friend to the Clark Center on Wednesday, November 11, at 7:30 p.m.
“My show is hopefully, if I can get through it, a tribute to a man who changed my life forever,” Batalla says. “It’s a mixture of song and story. I really enjoy telling stories about Leonard. Telling stories, in a sense, allows me to keep him alive. By the end of the evening, it’s like I’ve got him in the room.”
Batalla dropped out of law school in the mid-’80s to pursue singing, her true passion. A mutual friend introduced her to Cohen, who was riding high on the popularity of his “I’m Your Man” album, and Batalla soon found herself as a backup singer for the singer as he sold out stadiums around Europe.
The two clicked. “He saw things in me that I never saw in myself,” says Batalla, who has zero regret about dropping out of law school. “He was so supportive. He gave me my big break professionally.”
After recording and touring worldwide with Cohen for more than 10 years, Batalla struck out on her own with Cohen’s encouragement. Since then, she has recorded eight albums, including two musical tributes to Cohen, and received rave reviews.
She’s also been featured in film and television, and performed and recorded with artists such as Lou Reed, k.d. lang, John Cale, Sonny Rollins, Jackson Browne, Duquende, Luz Casal, Laurie Anderson, David Sandborn, and George Duke.
Batalla, considered “the essential interpreter of Leonard Cohen,” remembers him as “a rascal. Funny. Telling jokes. Telling stories.” Later, when Batalla pursued her solo career, Cohen liked to show up wherever she was performing, sit as close to the stage as possible, and try to throw her off.
Michael Gros, who serves on the Clark Center board of directors, first encountered Batalla’s music when he attended a performing arts booking conference in Phoenix in the early 2000s. Her agent invited Gros to attend a showcase performance at a small local bar. “I knew nothing about Perla, but her agent talked about her in a way that intrigued me.”
Gros made time in his busy schedule. It turned out to be a hallelujah moment. “Perla’s vocal range and quality that night were amazing,” Gros recalls. “But what truly sold me was her storytelling ability through her song interpretations. I’ve since attended multiple concerts of hers in a variety of venues over the years. People who come to her Clark Center concert will not be disappointed.”
Batalla prefers that the spotlight remain on her late friend and mentor. “Leonard Cohen is the Shakespeare of our day,” she says. “I truly believe his music will last forever.”
Tickets for A Letter to Leonard Cohen, Tribute to a Friend are available online or at the Clark Center box office.