Westport Historical Society Presents Coffee House at the Wheeler's

Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen,

partners in life and music if not in tennis, were lovers for a few weeks back

in the 60’s. Suzanne Sheridan, of “90 Pound Suburban Housewife Driving in Her SUV”

fame, has been bringing them back together for the past 3 years in a tribute

concert she has been performing from Canada to Australia. On Nov. 22 she will

be performing this concert at the Westport Historical Society.

Now in her late 60’s and living

in California, Joni Mitchell was born in Fort Macleod in Alberta, Canada. As a

child she was afflicted with polio but overcame the debilitating disease to

become one of the world’s most revered writers and performers. Having written

such masterful originals as “Big Yellow Taxi,” “Both Sides Now,” “Chelsea

Morning” and “A Case of You,” Mitchell spent her first serious musical years in

New York City hanging out with notable musicians such as Graham Nash, Bob

Dylan, David Crosby, James Taylor and Leonard Cohen.

Leonard Cohen was born in

Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Cohen is best known for his hauntingly powerful and

emotional songs “Hallelujah,” “Anthem,” “Suzanne,” and the Johnny Cash hit,

“Bird on a Wire. It took New York City to bring the two Canadians, Joni and

Leonard, together. And even though they were lovers for only a couple of weeks

(“That was a long time back then,” comments Sheridan) they were each other’s inspiration

for music and for life.

The Mitchell/Cohen musical

adventure began on a Sunday afternoon three years ago in Westport when Sheridan

gathered together musician friends Ruth Ahlers, Marshal Rosenberg, and Robin

Batteau to experiment with musically uniting Joni and Leonard in a concert

setting. The audience response was so positive and supportive that Sheridan

took the show on the road. She was invited by The Piggery Theatre in North

Hatley, Quebec, to do the Canadian debut of the tribute concert (which Sheridan

titled “Both Sides Now”) and in January 2011, Sheridan was brought to Australia

to tour with the concert. Again, the response was overwhelmingly positive.  When Sheridan met up with Westport keyboard

player Bob Cooper, she felt confident that they could do justice to the

material and ultimately justify a live recording, which took place at a

sold-out Voices Café concert on September 22, 2012. 

Sheridan and Cooper have been

performing this material to audiences across Connecticut. Other members of the

musical entourage are Ruth Ahlers of Norwalk on

sax, clarinet, recorder, special percussion and vocals; and Marshal Rosenberg

of New York City,

a world-renown percussionist who has toured with Tom Rush, Aztec Two Step, as

well as Buskin and Batteau.

Bring yourself and your

friends, and be prepared for a memorable experience listening to the music of

two of the world’s greatest musical poets sung by Suzanne Sheridan and backed

by an amazing group of musicians.

Reservations Suggested; Call 203-222-1424

Suggested Donation $10

Light Refreshments

More info:http://westporthistory.org/