Leonard Cohen invited me to the soundcheck and backstage buffet before the October 29, 2009 Chicago Rosemont Theatre concert and to the Green Room get-together afterward.
Let me tell you more about it.1
Leonard Had It Easy
Anyone who has read even a handful of the Heck Of A Guy posts I’ve written about Leonard Cohen over the past two or three years will not be surprised to learn that I was unambiguously, indisputably, emphatically excited about the prospect of meeting him.2
I suspect, in fact, that my only criterion of success for any contact between Leonard Cohen and me, however brief and however ritualized, would have been survival of both participants.3
I was less assured about the outcome of meeting others in the World Tour crew.
And, there was some reason for concern. While I had a few email contacts with Cohen (and handful of email and phone contacts with Anjani) since my review of Blue Alert, my efforts to reach band members, backup singers, and others associated with the Tour had been unrequited.
Yes, I’m talking to you, Charley Webb – and your sublime sister, Hattie. And you too, Dino – and Joey and …
Not that my feelings were hurt or anything.
An Inauspicious Start
My initial contact with the native population was not encouraging. In the course of being led through the maze of hallways and interconnected rooms backstage, I spotted Roscoe Beck, the Musical Director and bass player for the World Tour. I introduced myself, told him how much I admired his work, and found I had instantly and efficiently established a profoundly awkward moment approximately equal in length to the duration of the World Tour thus far.
This is by no means a disparagement of Roscoe Beck, who has a reputation for being available to and friendly with fans. I obviously interrupted him during his preparations for the concert, he had no idea who I was (which may have been a good thing), and, in any case, he was hardly impolite, let alone rude. Still, it was not the sort of meeting that fills one with confidence.
Leonard Cohen Earns A High Pass
Meeting Leonard Cohen was, as I’ve previously described in What Leonard Cohen Told Me Backstage In Chicago, all I hoped.
But, “all I hoped” does cover it. After all, given my assumption of his awesomeness and his widely publicized ascension to iconic status,4 there was little opportunity for him to exceed my rather hyperbolic expectations.
And Then There Was Sharon Robinson
As best I can reconstruct it, this is what happened next: while I was recovering from my close encounter of the Cohen kind, Sharon Robinson affectionately ambushed me.
My lack of preparation was the consequence of faulty intelligence. I have long admired Sharon Robinson’s talent as a singer and songwriter. Her rich, unwavering, exquisitely controlled and effectively utilized voice is a perpetual delight. And, I’ve especially liked those “Leonard Cohen songs” that are actually collaborations between Cohen an Robinson, such as “Everybody Knows” and “Boogie Street.”5 She has also produced stellar songs for others, including the Grammy-winning “New Attitude,” which was on the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack and was recorded by Patti LaBelle, and my personal favorite, “The High Road,” sung by Bettye LaVette.
Well, I had evaluated her professional skills correctly, but I had somehow convinced myself that she was reserved, even aloof, an assessment that quickly proved magnificently amiss.
Sharon spontaneously approached me, explaining that Leonard had told her who I was and that she had, of course, wanted to meet me.
That was certainly nice enough, but the coup de grâce was to follow. While she continued to talk about being happy to see me, she fixed her eyes on mine and then put her hand over my hand, triggering – and I cannot express how embarrassing it is to write this – a warm, lovely, comforting rush that flowed from the point on my hand she touched through my arm and throughout my body.
There is, no doubt, a logical explanation involving autonomic system reactions to certain pathological situations, barometric pressure shifts, and abnormally elevated affect in chronically sardonic bloggers.
Or perhaps it was a variation on the Vulcan Mind Meld.6
Or an empathic moment.
For now, however, I can only confess that Sharon Robinson required less than 30 seconds to convert me from a member of Leonard Cohen’s audience who thought her a better than competent backup singer to a passionate Sharon Robinson fan.7
_____________________- I previously posted on my meeting with Leonard Cohen at What Leonard Cohen Told Me Backstage In Chicago and How To Win Friends And Impress Strangers With A Little Help From Lorca & Leonard Cohen [↩]
- On the other hand, anyone who has read even a handful of the Heck Of A Guy posts I’ve written will grasp how atypical it is for me to be unambiguously, indisputably, emphatically excited about anything. [↩]
- OK, maybe mutual survival wouldn’t have been absolutely essential for a successful tête à tête, but either of us dying before the end of the meeting would certainly drained some of the fun from the thing. [↩]
- Is there a pay grade above icon? [↩]
- See Sharon Robinson On Boogie Street In Lisbon [↩]
- A “mind-meld” is a technique for sharing thoughts, experiences, memories, and knowledge with another individual. Wikipedia [↩]
- And, although no carnal pleasures were explicitly suggested during our brief time together, I have added Sharon Robinson to my “list of female singers with whom I want to sleep even though I am fairly certain they would hurt me,” a select group which also includes Tina Turner and Bette Midler. [↩]
Ah! A gal needs to sing…?
Thanks for your recollections about meeting the lovely Sharon Robinson Dr. Heck. I have heard Sharon sing “Boogie Street” live twice now at two of Leonard’s concerts and have been just blown away. Stunning! And she is such a warm and gracious person. Lucky you – meeting both Leonard Cohen and Sharon Robinson – and then seeing the show. You were blessed.
I was scrolling down the page, after reading about your experience thinking that there was nothing to say – and no need for any “logical explanation” for your feelings – and really felt at a loss for words to make any comment.
Then I read your footnote #7.
Men!! Haha! Bless y’all!
You mention Bettye LaVette singing “High Road.” Um – yeah – definitely. BUT – on Sharon’s excellent new album “Everybody Knows” you can hear Sharon herself sing “The High Road.” Wonderful. I think it is my favorite. I also love “Sustenance” and “Alexandra Leaving” – well, the whole album is terrific. And she recently added the songs to her playlist on her MySpace – and you can scroll through and listen to them – here -
http://www.myspace.com/sharonrobinsonmusic
Please add me honourably to your list of those who LOVE Sharon Robinson. She may be “Incomparable,” yet there’s a plethora of superlatives out there that apply. I keep wanting to say, “Give it a try, Leonard; give it a TRY!” Sharon Robinson is magnificent!