Dear Beautiful Losers!

The June 11, 2004 Event is just three months away! We can't wait to welcome everyone to what promises to be the best Cohen gathering ever. Next we take Manhattan! Look Out New York!

Julie Christensen and Paul Ostermayer perform with Perla Batalla!

Here's the latest news! The Leonard Cohen Event is proud to announce that Julie Christensen and Paul Ostermayer, both Leonard Cohen Band members, have agreed to perform with Perla Batalla on opening night at the Knitting Factory! Julie Christensen is known by all Cohen fans - she toured with Leonard in 1988 and 1993 and her singing can be heard on several albums. Paul, a saxophone and flute player toured with Leonard on the 1979, 1980 and 1993 world tours! Paul also recorded with Leonard on several albums. Also performing with Perla and Paul on the opening night will be guitar player, David Batteau, and band members Debra Dobkin and Karen Hammer. The Committee is also speaking with other Cohen Band members too! We're hoping for quite a reunion. More announcements will follow shortly!

VIP Dinner on Friday at The Knitting Factory

The VIP dinner for Friday night was sold out. We try to get more seats, any information will be on this page. The Cohen VIP Menu will be posted soon. The theme will include Cohen Food from around the world. For example, Jewish food from his Childhood days in Montreal. Greek food from his time in Hydra. Cuban food from his Havana days. Mexican food from his time in California. Japaneese food in honor of Roshi! And of course a Red Needle (or substitute beverage for those who request). For those of you who don't know, a Red Needle is the beautiful tequila and cranberry juice concoction that created the mood and harmonies for the recording of "Always" on the Future CD.

What happens on Friday?

Here's the skinny on Friday night at the Knitting Factory. Following the VIP party, Henning Franz is working on a special audio/visual project with photos supplied by Leonard and others of Cohen's NY days. The music accompanying his project will include a suprise or two! Perhaps something to do with some previously unreleased concert recordings of Chelsea Hotel!

We are also honored that D. Niclow of Uzbekestan, a well known Cohen philosopher and pundit will open the festivities with a special introductory message for those in attendance.

Next we take Manhattan--the tribute show begins. In addition to John Bergeron, Cohen band members Perla Batalla and Paul Ostermayer, the Leonard Cohen Event is pleased to announce that Richard McGraw, a singer/songwriter from NY who received finalist honors from the John Lennon Songwriting Contest will perform Cohen covers. McGraw's album "Her Sacred Statue" was voted top 12 indie records by "Performing Songwriter Magazine" and has been praised by Rick Rubin of American Recordings and John Wesley Harding.

Also, we've received a special message from former Cohen Vocalist, Jennifer Warnes that will be read to the audience. Following the tribute show, open mic will take over and go until 3:00 a.m.

Hightlights of Saturday

Plans for Saturday and Sunday's programs are also coming together! We have two NYC tours to offer. The first is for free. It's a walking/subway tour of Leonard's NYC. Highlights will include Columbia University, Greenwich Village and of course the Chelsea Hotel. So don't leave your Limo waiting in the Street and plan on participating in the Cohen walking tour! For those who find walking, a little too much, there will also be a Cohen/NYC bus highlight tour. Grey Line of New York has contracted with the Cohen Event to provide guided bus tours of Cohen Haunts, with a few NYC landmarks thrown in. This is a four hour coach tour with guide that will include the Plaza, the Chelsea, the Village and other locations important to Cohen's career! Approximate cost is $15.00. Please email Valerie if you think you want this option, and indicate your preference of Saturday or Sunday. We want to assure enough buses for all who want the tour!

At 1:30 on Saturday there will be several options. At Davis Hall, there will be a host of activities including a Cohen Art Show. Several Cohen inspired artists will be displaying their works at Davis Hall throughout the weekend. Also, there are busy plans underway for films, discussion groups and the like.

Meanwhile in Greenwich Village there will be a special NYC Cohen tribute pub crawl and scavenger hunt, sponsored by City Hunt. This really sounds cool, and is informative too!

On Saturday night, the evening program will revert back to Davis Hall and continue until 11:30 p.m. Several familiar and new headliners perform followed by an open mic session. At 12:00 midnight, we will reconvene at the International House's Downstairs Pub where the open mic sessions will continue until 3:00 a.m. The Pub will also have a cash bar and snack menu. So get ready to party all night long! That's what the night is for!

Leonard Cohen Scavenger Hunt

Saturday June12th@ 1pm, East Village and Alphabet City with a special tribute to Leonard Cohen City Hunt will take you on a scavenger hunt with guides.

You will go to four pubs in four hours. In between each drinking break, teams of participants will compete in missions to solve clues, find locations and accomplish tasks with our digital cameras.

All of the clues, locations and tasks will be related to 1960's East Village folk culture. You will learn about the haunts and tales of Leonard Cohen, and his friends Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin and Allen Ginsberg and much more........

There will be great drink specials at each pub and the first team to find each participating bar will win a pitcher of beer! This will be an afternoon of cultural education, exciting competition and pub touring adventure.

The Folk Scavenger Hunt/Pub Crawl is presented by City Hunt of New York in cooperation with the Leonard Cohen Event. A fee of $20.00 will be charged. You will be able to sign up at the Knitting Factory on June 11, 2004 or on-line!

...and what about Sunday!!!

Sunday has special surprises also! There will be walking and bus tours, discussion groups, and more. There are further suprises being planned that have not been finalized. A special 70th birthday honor to Leonard is being prepared. Further surprises are also being planned; for example, we are hoping we can present Sincerely L. Cohen -- So stay tuned!

Time to sign up!

A short reminder for those who have not signed up yet. Spaces for the event are going fast. Please reserve your spot now before the Event sells out! Also, for those of you who have paid only your deposit, please send in your balance. It was due on March 1, 2004. At the end of the month we have to cancel all outstanding registrations.

On the subject of housing, the Committee is pleased to announce that the legendary Chelsea Hotel has a limited number of rooms for let during the Event. So too does the International House. There are still plenty of rooms available at Carman Hall on the Columbia campus and the Southgate Tower hotel located close to Times Square and Penn Station. Everyone who has made a reservation at Carman Hall (Columbia Dorms) should now have received a confirmation from Joe Way or if made after February 18th, been able to print a confirmation from the last screen on the Columbia Dorms housing request page. Those of you have sent emails to conferencehousing@columbia.edu should expect a response by Friday, March 19th. If you haven't heard back from them by then, please send a new email. They have had some personnel changes and they expect to get to the emails pretty soon.

Past Events have been special meetings of Cohen faithful. Cohen family members have attended, as have surprise guests! Those in attendance in the past have received personal messages from Leonard, and have been treated to the release of new Cohen Music. The New York 2004 Event promises to be our best Event ever with many special surprises!

Early start on Thursday, June 10

Some extra program (like a dinner) will be arranged for those who come to New York early. Information will be posted here as soon as we have the details.

Extra program on Monday, June 14

Another special Cohen plan is also being made for Monday, June 14!. So stay another day if you can!

Makor presents the gala final day of our Event. The program features a screening of Ladies and Gentlemen... Mr. Leonard Cohen, an insightful documentary of the poet, novelist and songwriter, and includes other selected shorts, poetry reading and music by special guests, as well as a panel discussion on this music and literary icon.

Panel:

Rabbi Ebn David Leader, Faculty of the Rabbinical School at Boston’s Hebrew College, will speak on Cohen’s Book of Mercy (1984) -- a marvelous collection of "contemporary psalms" -- as well as the use of Cohen’s body of work as part of new forms of Jewish liturgy.

Stephen Hazan Arnoff, Makor, will explore Cohen's use of biblical narratives and themes throughout his career.

A Very Special Guest will discuss Cohen’s role as a post-modern prophet in the world of rock and roll and his musical and narrative life as a spiritual seeker.

Tickets for this special Makor event can be booked on-line. For more, go to the Makor Event page on their website. The discount code LEN gets Beautiful Losers a discounted ticket for $15 (normally $20). The special evening starts at 7 pm.

Makor is a cutting edge Jewish cultural arts center located at 35 West 67th Street (between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue) in the heart of Manhattan. For more information, visit www.makor.org. (Makor/Steinhardt Center of the 92nd Street Y, 35 W. 67th Street NYC 10023, Tel: 212-413-8842, Fax: 212-413-8860)


Well that's the Update for now! See you in June! More will be posted soon, so please check these pages. And if you haven't registered yet! Now's the time!

Geoff Gompers
Committee Chairman

Please note that the registration has closed on May 11, 2004. The Event is sold-out and we cannot take any new participants - because of the proximity of the Event we need to have a full count a month in advance. Another reason is that recent renovations to the Knitting Factory have reduced available seating. You may ask Jarkko about cancellations

Event poster created by Kadir Ercan (burning violin by Ania Nowakowska). Pohoto of Julie and Perla by Mariano Brustio (manipulation by Jarkko)