"It had a powerful and immediate effect on us, the entire family," says Solez. "We bought all his tapes, and wore them out. There was a period in my son Kevin's adolescence when he would listen to Leonard Cohen all night, as he slept. It contributed to the cadence of his own poetry, all those subliminal messages at night during his formative years."
Tuesday, July 23, 2002
News Story by Todd Babiak, Edmonton Journal Enterainment Writer
It happened in the summer of 1987, as Kim Solez and his family were driving through the Kootenays. Solez was the new chairman of pathology at the University of Alberta, and the family had recently moved to Canada from the U.S. On the car radio there was an interview with an artist, a name they did not recognize. There were a few typically thoughtful songs of love.
Every artist needs an admirer like Solez. It goes beyond buying, enjoying and promoting Cohen's novels, poetry, recordings and paintings. On Sept. 21, Cohen's 68th birthday, Solez and Kevin will host the first annual Leonard Cohen Night at Telus Centre. The idea came to Solez this January, when he experienced Scotland's enthusiasm for Robert Burns night.
Solez says that the understated quality of Canadian culture and traditions will make Leonard Cohen Nights a personal, introspective journey for each attendee. Not that it will begin and end in Edmonton. "Remember that we are not talking about a single Cohen event here,but rather a prototype for thousands of local Cohen events that would spread all over the world eventually."
In Leicester, U.K., there will be a simultaneous Leonard Cohen Night this September, with the celebrations linked by video. One weekend before Cohen's birthday, there will be a Leonard Cohen Night in Toowoomba, Australia, facilitated by another of Solez's contacts.
"No artist has ever been honoured in this way during his or her lifetime," says Solez. "The initiative will help millions of people all over the world to learn about Cohen's work and way of thinking, and about Canadian culture."
Solez is planning to sell 150 tickets in the $45 range, just enough to cover the food and the cost of the venue. Cohen CDs, books and DVDs will be for sale, at cost. There will be simple lighting effects, computers and data projectors. The haggis of Robbie Burns night will be replaced by Montreal smoked meat sandwiches and Cohen's signature drink, the Red Needle.
On his Web site, www.leonardcohennights.org, Solez writes, "We intend for this year's event to be in part a sort of 'musical revolutionary boot camp' training a revolutionary force to combat boredom in music and cluelessness about love around the world!" He hopes to attract international Cohen devotees to Edmonton so they can organize similar, even better events in their own cities.
What does Cohen think about all this? Solez has been speaking to his manager and to the people at Sony records, who are supportive. So far, he hasn't heard from Canada's most famous poet. "I'm confident that I will ultimately meet him," says Solez. "What I'm doing is pretty unique. When he found out, he probably said, 'Whoa!'"
© Copyright 2002 Edmonton Journal
