| Field Commander Cohen: Tour of 1979 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Live album by | ||||
| Released | February 20, 2001 (copyrighted 2000) | |||
| Recorded | December 4, 5, 6, 1979 at the Hammersmith Odeon, London and December 15, 1979 at the Dome Theatre, Brighton | |||
| Genre | Contemporary folk | |||
| Length | 63:03 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | Leanne Ungar | |||
| Leonard Cohen chronology | ||||
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Field Commander Cohen: Tour of 1979 is a live album byLeonard Cohen, released in 2001.[1] Songs were recorded live at theHammersmith Odeon, London, on 4, 5, and December 6, 1979, and at theDome Theatre, Brighton, on December 15, 1979. Cohen considered it his "best tour ever".[2]
Accompanying Cohen was the jazz band Passenger fromAustin, Texas, consisting of members Steve Meador on drums,Roscoe Beck on bass, Mitch Watkins on guitar, Bill Ginn on keyboards and Paul Ostermayer on saxophone and flute. Other tour members included violinist Raffi Hakopian,oudistJohn Bilezikjian, and backup singersJennifer Warnes andSharon Robinson. Beck would become a stalwart of Cohen's studio and live bands for more than a decade afterwards. The album cover portrait was taken by Montreal photographer, Hazel Field.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| Robert Christgau | |
| Pitchfork Media | 8.1/10 |
| Rolling Stone | |
James Hunter ofRolling Stone called the LP "elaborately, and yet simply, awesome." Mark Deming ofAllMusic writes thatField Commander Cohen "presents an especially strong argument for Cohen's gifts as a musician." TheNew York Observer also praised the album: "Mr. Cohen's voice is warm and strong throughout, and still has some of the high end that is not so evident on his last two studio albums..."