Northcott re! From pane VW album was just hitting the market. “T didn’t want to get dost. fr seemed like to0 much in the market, so I decided to give ita few years.” he said. The Joyful Songs of Leonard Cohest is in stores now, The result features some top-flight Vancouver musi- cians, including Daryl Burgess on drums, Robbie Steininger on guitar, Norm Fisher on bass, Michael Creber on keyboards, Tom Keenlyside on sax and Hute and Shari Ulrich on dulcimer and violin. Northcott contacted Cohen this year to pull together the finishing touch- es. “I said this project has been an act of love front che beginning, now it’s time to add the act of commerce. Any blessing thar you could give this project from writinig something for the album or getting photographed together weuld be deeply appreciated.” Cohen called back. Northeort recalls being “very tentative and respectful. “I said ‘It’s 2 joyful album and i'd like to bring a bottle of champagne or something.” “He just laughed and said, ‘P?'m open to anything.” I knew at that moment thar it was going to be a good experience.” He visited Cohen in July. Cahen bas converted his tower of suny to a Buddhist monastery in Caiufornia. He’s a practicing Jew and an ordained Buddhist monk of the Rinzai sect. “lie’s got a menorah right alongside of his incense burner in this tiny little con- verted Boy Scour cabin on 2 rockslide at the 6,000-foor level on Mount Baldy,” Northcott said. Cohen told Northcott that he has no present plans to do music again. Northcott received Leonard's biessing for his project. Says Cohen on the cover of Joyfiel Songs, “Tam so grateful to you for the title and for the under- standing that is behind the title. Thank you for your honest voice, your musical and technical skills, and for this fraternal gesture.” Northcott sees Cohen as a rare artist who dares to write honestly. “He’s naked before the world. E think that he exam- ines himself harshly. 1 think that we’re attracted to that because there’s so much emphasis in our socicty about conforming and being appropriate and maintaining respectability. “One of bis lines ia a psalm that he wrote in the Book of Mercy is ‘do not tet the words be mine, bur change them into truth.” He really wants to be a spokesman for humanity and T think that he, as much as anybody around who is well- known, succeeds.” Columbia has just released Leonard Cohen, More Best Of. The 64- year old’s retrospective of the s ond half of his recording career includes one new track called Never Any Good. Cohen's songs have a staving power that appeals to Northeort, who first brushed with fame in the 1960s by recording covers of songs by Cohen, Harry Nilsson, Donovan and Afr, Dylan, The Tom Noriheout Trio (Northeott with Rick Enis on bass and Kat Flendrikse on drums) opened for The Who, The Doors and The Jetferson Airplane in those heady days. Northeott recorded 3 cover version af Cohen's Susanne inthe early 1970s, after charting hits with cov ers of Harry Nibsson'’s 2047 and The Raimmaker “What Pneticed through the vears was thar thase (Cohen's) were songs | could always sing again. Tt did't tect like nostalgia. It telt like cach time | would sing them, “Whoa, Pm fiving eases Cohen collect this! Pd get a little rush, a buzz and tingle.” Tom Northcott and com: pany presence fovfid Suns of Leonard Cohen and The New Step, a play by Leonard Cohen, at Phe Arts Club Revue Theatre on Granville Island, 8 pam. on Monday Nov. 1G. The show runs on sue 3 son only! Till November 2nd Yo to S0%* off all you need for dinner THE GREAT CHANGE EVENT [ “All savings are off reguiar-piced tems only. Special buys not inclucied. All offers while quantities last. Excludes Factory Outlets. Warehouse Stores and Clearance Centres. Selection may vary by store. B cessive Mondays until Dee. 8. The New Step is directed bv Stephen Fanning and includes actors loely Collins, who won a Gemini Award in 1996 for Best Actress in a dramatic senes for her work onthe TV show Madison, and Madison actor Rebecca Nygaard. TG:f Northcott returns with a work of joy.