Music

Leonard Cohen's 'Songs From The Road' Showcases Most Outstanding Performances From Ongoing World Tour

 

In 2008, following the celebration of his 40th year as a Columbia recording artist and coinciding with his induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, Leonard Cohen thrilled his fans by announcing his first tour dates in 15 years. Cohen went on to play the most prestigious and beautiful venues in virtually every corner of the globe, mesmerizing and charming audiences with performances that were hailed as some of the best of his career.

 

One dozen of Leonard Cohen's most famous songs from those recent world tour performances - at auditorium halls, festivals, arenas, and stadiums from Tel Aviv to London, from across Europe to the California desert and his native Canada - are now collected on SONGS FROM THE ROAD.

 

"When legend Cohen takes to the stage, it's no less than a cultural event of Biblical dimensions." - The Independent

Ahmad Hassan Muhammad is a pianist and composer from Cincinnati Ohio, and a recent graduate of Bowdoin College. He began studying jazz in the ninth grade under the guidance of pianist William Menefield, an incredible musician and educator that lit a powerful fire inside of Ahmad through performing for his class one afternoon in the fall of 2002 at the School for Creative and Performing Arts. In Ahmad, Menefield planted seeds of passion and commitment, inspiring not only a love for improvisation but a desire to share that love with others. At Bowdoin College, Ahmad continued to grow as a pianist and improviser under the inspiration and direction of Frank Mauceri, Naydene Bowder, Matthew Fogg and Steve Grover, and sought to pay it forward, exposing his classmates—and audiences throughout New England—to jazz music, and his other favorite improvisational activity—freestyle rapping. In his sophomore year at Bowdoin, Ahmad began commuting to Boston to study with pianist Aaron Goldberg—whose educational wisdom and insightful mentor ship helped him move towards a distinctive musical voice of his own—and to New York City, to study with other world-renowned improvisers such as Fred Hersch, Tony Malaby and Andy Milne. On campus, Ahmad's active performance career was complemented by passionate engagement with literature and philosophy, his hunger for which was central in his decision not to attend a music school as an undergraduate.  Having graduated from Bowdoin with a degree in English, Muhammad currently resides in Portland, Maine, where he continues to immerse himself in the musical styles that have spoken the most to his soul—jazz, hip-hop, Afro-cuban music, African music, and European classical music—and prepares to go on a six month long tour throughout the US and Canada this fall, to jazz clubs, k-12 schools, colleges and universities, boys and girls clubs, and hospitals, with five incredible musical talents: Phil Mcgowan (drums), Adam Frederick (bass), Andy Robbins (drums), Stu Mahan (bass) and Oliver Watkinson (bass).

The Haberdashery Ensemble is a genre defying acoustic ensemble based in Los Angeles, CA, known for their energetic, evocative and witty performances. Led by Maine native composer/bassist Brandon Turner, the Haberdashery Ensemble synthesizes their diverse and eclectic influences of Tango, Classical, Jazz, Folk, Gypsy, and French music with the precision of chamber ensemble; and expands upon those influences with the improvisational freedom of a jazz combo. The Haberdashery Ensemble's versatile acoustic musicians, Gee Rabe- Accordion, Paul Cartwright- Violin, and Brandon Turner- Double Bass provide a memorable range of timbres and textures.

 

Starting as Brandon Turner's graduate thesis project in 2008 while attending the University of Southern California, Brandon enlisted the help of longtime friend Dan Cole and classmate Chris Luther. Needing an accordion player to complete the ensemble, Brandon posted an ad on craigslist and connected with Gee Rabe. It became clear at their first rehearsal that the Haberdashery Ensemble had a winning chemistry that could not be limited to a school project.

Since that fateful rehearsal, The Haberdashery Ensemble has been performing at venues throughout Los Angeles to enraptured audiences. Performing at clubs, festivals and universities pushes themselves to find a sound all their own. Influenced by boundary breaking artists like Astor Piazzolla, Tom Waits, Kronos Quartet and Tin Hat Trio, Haberdashery plays music with an international sound that has been likened to an indie film soundtrack unfolding before you.

All of Haberdashery's personnel are individually accomplished musicians and are alumni of some of the world's finest music conservatories. Haberdashery members are also committed to music education and instruct clinics and workshops on a variety of subjects throughout the US.

One day, Jake went looking in the backroom closet for his trusty snare drum, but
found only an old, black leather bound suitcase covered in dust.  He tried to open
it, but the latch was stuck.  He called Joe and Colin over.  Joe shook it—they could
hear something inside.  Colin worked on the latch with a screwdriver, nothing.
Jake grabbed a drumstick from off the floor and started hitting the top of the
case, hoping it would open.  Within minutes Jake realized he had found
something, and within a few hours the Toughcats' first album, Piñata was
completed.

Energetic. Catchy. Fun. Exciting. Danceable. Memorable. Loveable. Beautiful.
Amazing. At times, unabashedly hirsute. This is not the Toughcats ad on
Matchmaker.com; these are just some of the words die-hard Toughcats fans
mutter in their sleep after a performance. Toughcat shows are as exhausting for
the audience as they are for the beat-red drummer and the blister-fingered string
players. The intensity can induce a stoic crowd to dance, and a wild crowd to stop
and take a look. They pull out a little something for everyone, the young folks,
the old folks, the hippies and the hipsters, the yuppies and the rural unemployed.
If you don't fall head-over-heels in love with one of the band members, you are
either a super villain, or an igneous rock (all other rocks have been noted to
contain trace amounts of love for Jake Greenlaw.)

The Toughcats tour regularly, promoting their first album Piñata, which was so
well liked as a rough cut that it was then mastered by Kramer (renown producer
and former Butthole Surfer.) They have made multiple national tours playing
music and film festivals, theaters, bars, boats, fields, and everything in between.
The band has shared the bill and worked with the likes of Kathy Mattea, Hot
Buttered Rum, Deerhoof, Sam Bush, The Mammals, Tony Trischka, The Avett
Brothers, The Red Stick Ramblers, even author Jim Hightower, to name a few.
They recently played two back-to-back shows with Ketch Secor (of Old Crow
Medicine Show) performing music from both repertoires and even some covers
like Springsteen's Thunder Road. The band's sophomore album Run to the Mill
was released February of 2010.

With their unusual sound, a blend of old timey bluegrass, thoughtful indie rock,
and classic pop twitches a la early Beatles, they bring their audience a best of both
worlds scenario: timeless music that is at once unquestionably danceable and
haltingly listenable. The feverish beats from Greenlaw are engulfing, and his
energy captivating...the whole band provides vocals and lyrics that are self
reflexive and without pretence...the melodies and complex tonal structures from
Joe Nelson on guitar and Colin Gulley on banjo are dulcet, frolicking, even
headbanging, pieces of artistry, built from chops that prove hands down they're
worth their salt as musicians. Their music is the kind that builds a following
because it is pan-generic, yet respectful of the greats, and mindful of the nuances
of their influences. Their music is attentive not only to their musical ancestry, but
also to their contemporary audience. This is not a band that forces itself on a
listener—this is a band that is sought by a listener.

Pop quiz: What could cause a band to play a Devo-esque robotic klesmer melody
in the middle of a poppy, bluegrass dance hit?

Answer: the suitcase.