In the late 1960s, Canadian poet Leonard Cohen actually coincidentally developed into one of the most idiosyncratic and original singer-songwriters of the twentieth century. His monotonous and introverted voice and sparingly accompanied melancholic songs brought him a selective but very dedicated fan base. This includes Bart Kingma, director of the Frisian broadcaster. When he once translated a song
… by Cohen into Frisian, he was so enthusiastic about the successful result that he translated even more. Together with audio engineer Harry Zwerver he started a project to make a compilation album of Cohen songs in Frisian. They asked Frisian artists of various ages and musical backgrounds to perform these songs under the musical accompaniment of Peter van der Zwaag and his band. Such an unconventional album also fits a special recording location: an old farm in Boer, near Franeker. On the DVD of the CD De Partisanen: Cohen In Het Frisian we see Nynke Laverman, Sido Martens, Elske de Wall, Mariusz and Gerbrich van Dekken sing the songs live in the barn, with hay on the floor and mystical grazing light. Kingma was right: the arranged songs have all become gems! (SvdP) the arranged songs have all become gems! (SvdP) the arranged songs have all become gems! (SvdP)more