Leonard Cohen is gone. But his music lives on. And Perla Batalla, who sang backup for him for many years, is helping to keep his legacy alive through her “Tribute to Leonard Cohen” concerts.
“I feel like part of my mission is to continue singing this music. These songs are running through my veins,” Batalla says.
During her two concerts at Stanford on Saturday evening, the Grammy-nominated Batalla will present lesser known compositions, as well as some of Cohen’s signature tunes.
“I’ll be doing selections from his entire body of work, early songs like ‘Suzanne’ and ‘Sisters of Mercy,’ and then some of the later ones like ‘Take This Waltz,’ inspired by a Federico García Lorca poem. It’s really beautiful. Leonard credits Lorca with ruining his life. At 15, he got addicted to his poetry,” Batalla says, laughing.
She believes that Cohen’s works, even those he wrote in the 1960s, remain timely. “Not only politically, but in terms of the human condition. He would always be able to be so precise and poetic in his choices of words. And since I knew him personally, I know how much he toiled over every lyric. But I love it when people of all ages walk away with, ‘Wow! That was deep.’ So it reaches out to everyone. It’s quite accessible.”
Prior to her 1988 audition as a backup singer for Cohen, Batalla hadn’t been very familiar with his work. But she studied his songs before meeting him.
“I was absolutely blown away. And I thought a lot about what I would wear to this audition, how I would be perceived, what the first impression would be. So I put on a white dress. Everything I was wearing was white. And then I met Leonard and he was in black from head to toe. He laughed and said, ‘Darling, this is a match made in heaven.’”
As can be heard from listening to her 2005 “Bird on the Wire” album, one of several solo releases available on her website, www.perla.com, Batalla’s gorgeous, rich, contralto voice adds another layer of beauty to Cohen’s elegantly crafted songs.
“I was truly lucky. It’s rare that anyone gets to work with an icon like Leonard,” she says. “And the giant frosting on the cake was getting to be friends. Singing with Leonard Cohen, I was in heaven.”
Despite his lofty status, particularly in Europe and his native Canada, Cohen remained humble, according to Batalla.
“He still lived in a modest home and lived very simply. So there was no ego that I could see. I’m sure there has to be, to be Leonard Cohen. But it certainly was not on display.”
Batalla says Cohen sacrificed everything for his art. “It shows in the work, because it’s not just about writing, it’s about rewriting. That’s something he taught me. And he was inexhaustible. He worked and worked to get it right. That actually shows in his writing. And that’s why it’s different and it’s classic. It’s like a Shakespeare play — you get something different out of it every time you listen to a lyric or sing his songs.”
It was Cohen who encouraged Batalla to take the spotlight as a solo vocalist. She had grown up around music. Her father sang in a mariachi band. Her mother ran the family’s Spanish-language record store, which became a landmark in the Santa Monica area. But Batalla didn’t automatically pursue a music career. She became a successful photographer, working for Norman Lear. Eventually, however, singing became her focus.
“It’s like Leonard says, ‘Eventually the career chooses you, you don’t choose it.’ So it did choose me.”
Once she began recording her own albums, Batalla became more involved in songwriting. “You need guidance, if you’re a new writer. Just knowing Leonard and his process helped me a great deal.”
Some of her songs paid tribute to the Mexican and Argentinian roots of her father and mother.
“That’s another thing that Leonard and I really shared was the love of the Spanish language. I had a couple of his songs translated into Spanish for the tribute album that I did for him. And boy, Leonard Cohen in Spanish, I don’t think it gets any better than that.”
Batalla is composing a song cycle, “Blue House,” about Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. She also spends time on youth outreach programs, which have earned her a United Nations Earth Charter Award.
Married to Chef Claud Mann, known for TBS’s TV program “Dinner and a Movie,” Batalla lives in Ojai. Their daughter, Eva, is going for her master’s degree in Public Health and resides in San Francisco. She’s also a gifted singer and Batalla hopes she’ll join her onstage at the Stanford concert.
At the show, Batalla will share her memories of Cohen. “I can’t say that there was anything that didn’t impress me about Leonard. He was actually so funny, always. I know he suffered from depression and a lot of stress in his life, but he always showed up as very content and cheerful and funny. Always wanted to make me laugh. And a great storyteller. He sent me hilarious texts almost every week. And I’ll miss all those things.”
Cohen died in November of 2016 at age 82. “I’m so grateful that the world got to see his genius before he departed. Late in his life, he went out on the road, because he felt he had to, for financial reasons. But he was delighted by the fact that it sparked this whole excitement and new audience for him. Even though he was older, he was not feeling well, but he still went on the road, preserved his energy, and sold out stadiums around the world.”
For Batalla, each time she presents her “Tribute to Leonard Cohen” is an emotional experience. “This concert is not only about exposing the world to Leonard Cohen, it’s part of my grieving, my saying goodbye. It’s such a healing process to sing and to share with others the stories.”
Email Paul Freeman at paul@popcultureclassics.com.
Music
Who: Perla Batalla: A Tribute to Leonard Cohen
Where: Bing Concert Hall Studio, 327 Lasuen St., Stanford
When: 8 and 10 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 7, 2017
Tickets: $15-$40 (first show sold out); www.live.stanford.edu or 650-724-2464
Artist website: www.perla.com
