Arts & Entertainment
LEONARD COHEN: Everybody Knows He’s Their Man
In 2011, it's hard to believe that Small Town Concert Series is celebrating its Fifth Annual Tribute to the songwriter who inspired the series, Leonard Cohen.
Both last September and this year at the Kate, their Leonard Cohen tribute concerts filled the house.
“The reason why we keep going back to doing Leonard Cohen is because he, really, is The Man. Dylan might come close, but to our ears, Cohen expresses the breadth and depth of human emotion best,” asserts Matthew Male of Small Town Concert Series, who adds, “He also has a great sense of humor and is very melodic.”
Male, 53, resembles a jovial college professor, with his warm, ready smile and owlish eyeglasses. He sets up and runs the sound at most shows (except at the Kate, or other places where the sound system is already in place). He also plays percussion on a congas, bongos and a home-made drumbox or cajon.
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As one of the most revered figures of the singer-songwriter movement of the late Sixties and early Seventies, Cohen soon developed a desire to move beyond the folk trappings of that genre. STCS Musical Director, Lauren Agnelli, is also moved to play and lead others who enjoy playing music that transcends the usual “folk, rock, blues, country, cabaret” categories. “When you play Leonard Cohen songs, you play all the genres.”
In 2011, it’s hard to believe that Small Town Concert Series is celebrating its Fifth Annual Tribute to the songwriter who inspired the series, Leonard Cohen. Both last September and this year at the Kate, their Leonard Cohen tribute concerts filled the house.
Find out what's happening in The Haddams-Killingworthwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
After five years of producing New England’s only annual musical tribute to Leonard Cohen, Matthew Male has worked hard to keep everybody knowing Leonard Cohen’s work. Male’s also proven himself a talented producer/promoter. Small Town Concert Series – which he and wife, Lauren Agnelli, started in 2007 – has presented over 50 musical productions. Many of them have full crowds or sell out. Some of them benefit the community, all of them are entertaining, and feature local as well as international talent.
On Saturday, September 24th at 7 p.m. “Everybody Knows: Leonard Cohen,” a tribute concert, will again be performed at the Chester Meeting House to benefit the Chester Library. It’s an all-Cohen evening of music; every year, the show features different songs, different versions of songs, and some different performers.
Cohen’s song “Everybody Knows” was first recorded – and played in a video on MTV – by Agnelli’s Grammy-nominated contemporary folk group, The Washington Squares. She is reprising the song in this year’s show.
Over 2,080 musicians/singers have recorded Cohen’s songs; many more perform them regularly. New to the Small Town Concert Series stage this year are Chester Elementary School music teacher and resident Meg Gister, and Old Saybrook’s Corner Music owner/instructor, musician Jonathan Kehew.
Other performers on the night of September 24th at the Chester Meeting House for the Leonard Cohen tribute concert will include Amalgamated Muck, Rodney Maxwell, Ebin-Rose, vocalist Rachael Aikens, violinist Dana Takaki, and of course, Lauren Agnelli and Matthew Male. Special guest Dave “Rave” DesRoches will join the STCS Big House band for several numbers.
GREAT MUSIC FOR A GREAT CAUSE! Saturday, Sept. 24, 2011 - 7:00 p.m. (doors at 6:30 p.m.) “EVERYBODY KNOWS: LEONARD COHEN The Fifth Annual Tribute Concert celebrating the Canadian Master of Poetry and Song. Presented by Small Town Concert Series at The Chester Meeting House, 4 Liberty Street, Chester, CT - $25 Admission -- $15 to members of local houses of worship, Chester Rotary, Friends of Chester Library, Friends of Killingworth Library, Chester Historical Society, Chester Merchants Association, or with any purchase over $20 at ANY CHESTER BUSINESS or Corner Music in Old Saybrook on the day of the show. (And to people donating $20 or more to WPKN or WESU radio or The Sanctuary at Shepardfields the week before the show) Also – if you buy a guitar from Acoustic music.org in Guilford this week, bring your receipt and admission for two is free!
Call 860.526.4777 for further info – tickets available at the door (doors at 6:30, show at 7 p.m.) The Chester Meeting House, 4 Liberty Street, Chester, CT
