Replay: Perla Batalla shares Five Things She's Learned about Leonard Cohen: His Women, Onstage and Backstage
Check out the first five minutes of her recent class.
“He was our best pal. He was the leader of the pack. He stayed up. If you wanted to stay up all night, he was your man. You know, he said, ‘I’m going to have a hanger outside of my hotel room door, and it means anyones welcome, if you want to watch TV, hang out...’. He was just part of the gang, and so kind and sweet. He wanted us to all be a family, basically.”
– Perla Batalla, Five Things I've Learned about Leonard Cohen: His Women, Onstage and Backstage
Perla Batalla is a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter and arranger who first gained international attention as a backup singer for Leonard Cohen, with whom she toured for many years. In fact, she ultimately embarked on her own solo career at Cohen’s encouragement. Here’s the first five minutes of our recent 90-minute class in which Perla shares the Five Things She’s Learned about the essential role women played again and again in Leonard Cohen’s life and music.
Five Things I’ve Learned about Leonard Cohen: His Women, Onstage and Backstage offers insights into the man from someone who really knew him behind the scenes. In conversation with Sylvie Simmons, Perla shares exactly how Cohen worked with women – both in the studio and onstage; why so many female singers over the years have been drawn to cover his songs; what life on the road was like for Cohen, and the things he did to make it bearable, even fun; why the road in time turned out to be torture, and what happened when it became too hard. She also talks with Sylvie about Cohen’s relationship to the Spanish language; the huge significance this language had in his life; and the importance of Roshi, Cohen’s friend and Zen teacher, for whom he gave up marriage and, for a while, even music.
Want to learn about Leonard Cohen from the musical colleague who knew him on-stage and off? This class is for you.
Perla has recorded seven albums, been featured in film and TV, staged two one-woman shows and performed in prestigious venues around the world. In fact, her personal homage to Cohen continues to play to sold-out audiences throughout Europe and North America.
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