BBC Radio, MOJO sing "Hallelujah" this November 1

This Saturday, November 1, All Saint's Day, bicoastal Canadian singer-songwriter Allison Crowe figures in a pair of major Leonard Cohen tributes - both originating in the UK.

MOJO magazine's feature issue (December cover date) on Cohen hits the stands in Europe (and will soon reach North America+), along with the special tribute CD "Cohen Covered" which contains Crowe's recording of "Joan of Arc" - a lesser-known exemplar of Leonard Cohen's poetic genius (from his 1971 album "Songs of Love and Hate").

MOJO's tribute to "The Incredible Resurrection of Rock's Greatest Poet" contains a career retrospective, by rock historian and journalist Sylvie Simmons, alongside a separate piece by Phil Alexander, and more, with plenty of photographs plus input from Leonard Cohen himself. The tribute CD, containing tracks from Allison Crowe, Judy Collins, Dion, Linda Thompson, Katie Melua, Nick Cave, Susanna and the Magical Orchestra, and other bright talents spanning the decades, accompanies this MOJO issue.

Also, on Saturday, November 1, from 19:00 - 20:00 London time, BBC Radio 2 broadcasts a special documentary, "The Fourth, The Fifth, The Minor Fall", celebrating "Hallelujah", Leonard Cohen much-loved modern masterpiece in popular song.

BBC reports: "Guy Garvey, front man of Mercury Award winners Elbow, examines the Leonard Cohen classic Hallelujah by talking to the artists who have covered it. Marking 25 years since Hallelujah was first recorded, Guy explains why the track has been analysed by both academics and theologists and looks at how the song has graced anything from teen dramas to Hollywood blockbusters."

Allison Crowe was interviewed for this BBC documentary, and recorded performing "Hallelujah" in Liverpool on a recent concert visit to Northern England for Beatles Week 2008 festivities. Currently, Crowe is back in North America and readying for her annual 'Tidings' holiday concert series. Between now and Christmas Day, the young artist, acclaimed as an excitingly original songwriter and performer, as well as a supreme interpreter, will perform concerts reaching from her home in Corner Brook, Newfoundland to her home in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada.

MOJO salutes Leonard Cohen

Allison Crowe joins Judy Collins, Katie Melua and more in MOJO Tribute to Leonard Cohen

Canada's bicoastal musical marvel Allison Crowe is among those invited by MOJO magazine to celebrate Leonard Cohen, master of song, on a soon-to-be-released tribute CD. Crowe contributes her cover of "Joan of Arc" - a favourite first heard on the 1971 Cohen album "Songs of Love and Hate".

It's been a wonderful year for appreciation of poet and songwriter+ Leonard Cohen - highlighted by all the live performances, and, the love that's flowed famously at the Glastonbury Festival and more concerts across North America and Europe.

MOJO magazine, one of the world's great music publications, has put together a delightful tribute - one well-designed and timed to raise the banner high over a year that's been very special for lovers of Cohen, just turned 74. As they explain it: "The November 1 issue of MOJO (cover dated December) is celebrating deep and moving music, the kind of stuff we need in the run up to the holiday period. The accompanying MOJO cover mounted CD will be made up of 15 tired and emotional masterpieces from the pen of veteran songwriter Leonard Cohen."

Here be the final running order of the tracks on the upcoming tribute album:

1 Suzanne 3:42 - Ian McCulloch
2 In My Secret Life 4:23 - Katie Melua
3 Hey That's No Way To Say Goodbye 3:02 - Claudine Longet
4 Sisters Of Mercy 3:34 - Dion
5 Story Of Isaac 4:09 - Linda Thompson
6 Priests 4:01 - Eyeless In Gaza
7 Joan of Arc 4:55 - Allison Crowe
8 Hallelujah 5:46 - Susanna And The Magical Orchestra
9 Avalanche 5:13 - Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds
10 Chelsea Hotel No.2 4:19 - Josh Ritter
11 Take This Longing 6:16 - Phil Campbell
12 Tower Of Song 3:46 - Martha Wainwright
13 Song For Bernadette 4:21 - Judy Collins
14 Famous Blue Raincoat 5:08 - The Handsome Family
15 Tonight Will Be Fine 2:45 - Mr David Viner

Alongside the MOJO cover-mount CD, there's expected to be plenty of love for Leonard Cohen reigning o'er the magazine's print and online editions, in Q magazine, and on MOJO Radio next month.

Allison Crowe is currently at the mid-point in her third European tour of 2008. It's a visit that's seen her perform to passionate audiences in Frankfurt, Paris, Siegen, Vienna, and now Prague, Czech Republic - after which she flies to the Highlands of Scotland for a concert in Durness, a fundraiser for the John Lennon Memorial Garden. Following this weekend in the Highlands, she performs in Edinburgh, before returning to North America where she’ll ready her annual Tidings holiday concert series in support of a host of charities from the Atlantic to the Pacific coasts.

Author, Author, Author - Allison Crowe & the write stuff

"When do I get to be the muse?" asks Allison Crowe in a yet-to-be-recorded song.

Beyond the the more localized territory of personal relationships, the answer is now. Globally, she finds inspiration in other people and their creativity, and she always enjoys hearing from people who find her music inspiring.

Prolific and passionate music blogger Muruch recently reviewed Allison Crowe's newest album "Little Light" - calling the Canadian-born dynamo "my favorite contemporary female singer".

Bridging the worlds of online and traditional print is UK author Martin Warminger whose blog is an extension of his 2006 book, "memoirs of a music obsessive". The Hertfordshire-based writer shares his encyclopedic knowledge of some fifty+ years of popular music: from his favourites, classics such as pioneering girl-group Fanny, to the Zombies, REM, and, Julian Cope, right up to discussion of the newest hypes and hits, be they Mancusian Ting Tings or the Mimian Mariah Carey. In between music banter, there's talk of such other cultural icons as cricket on the Music Obsessive blog.



Warminger delights in finding Allison, (via her hugely popular cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah"), explaining, "There are always times in your life when you feel you will never be excited by any new artist", but, discovery of such a talent keeps that magic alive.

Across the Atlantic Ocean, chart-topping thriller-writer Harlan Coben expresses his own appreciation of Allison Crowe's music. Labelled "the modern master of the hook-and-twist" by "The DaVinci Code" author Dan Brown, Coben's latest book, "Hold Tight" debuted at #1 on The New York Times best-seller list this Spring, and a French film made from an earlier novel, "Tell No One", opens on North American screens next month (July 2, 2008). Harlan Coben's worldwide audience is riveted by his mix of the harrowing and the humourous - to the tune of him being the first author to win all three of the Edgar Award, Shamus Award and Anthony Award (a mystery-writing triple crown). Other musicians he cites as kindling his creative fires include: idol, and fellow-New-Jersey-native, Bruce Springteen (and the E Street Band); Mozart; Counting Crows, and Damien Rice.



Also in America, penning novels in the historical fantasy, or "alternate history" genre, is another music-lover, Jacqueline Carey, creator of the "Kushiel's Legacy" books - which began in 2001 with the publication of "Kushiel's Dart" (recipient of the 2002 Locus Award for Best First Novel). With the release of "Kushiel's Mercy", the final book in the series, last month, the "all things girl" blog caught up with Jacqueline Carey's life outside the literary map of Terre d'Ange.

At home in western Michigan, (and a member of that state's oldest Mardi Gras krewe) Carey says: "I don't listen to music while I write, but I take my iPod on long walks, or jogging on the beach during the summer, and I do a lot of my best creative thinking then. I listened to a lot of Coldplay, Arcade Fire and Blue October while I was hashing out my current work in progress. Oh, and Allison Crowe and Joe Purdy. More recently, I'm listening to Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds' latest release."

The only commandment of Elua, key deity of Terre d'Ange, is to "Love as thou wilt". This dictum can apply to each of us, in music choices as in the rest of life.



Any resemblance to Allison, tattoos and all, is purely coincidental.