THE soulful songs of one of the world’s greatest songwriters are being performed at the Colchester Arts Centre next month.

The Songs of Leonard Cohen will see Welsh performer Keith James lovingly recreate some of the best known songs in the world including Sisters of Mercy, Suzanne and Hallelujah.

Born in 1934 into a traditional Jewish family from Montreal Canada, Leonard Cohen can now be described as one of the most accomplished and celebrated singer-song writers and poets of our time.

He published his first book of poetry in 1956, but it was from 1960 during his time spent on the Greek Island of Hydra that his skill as a songwriter began to emerge.

In true bohemian style, he returned from Greece, by all accounts penniless, and joined, almost by accident, the folk revival that existed in Greenwich Village, New York during the mid-Sixties.

With his undying love of the ‘pure song’ Keith performs Cohen’s material in the most intimate and sensitive way imaginable, exposing the inner strength of his greatest songs in their original perfect form.

Keith says: “By performing each song as near to the way it was originally written, I have paired each song back to it’s central core and original sense of purpose. I have given a great deal of individual thought to each song; why it was written, where it was written and have considered the dynamic forces, both internal and worldly that brought pen to paper.”

As well as the songs, the concert will also feature poems by Lorca that Keith has set to music, one of Cohen’s greatest influences, and pieces from last album which were produced by his son, Adam.

Having performed the show for the last six years all over the country, The Songs of Leonard Cohen is at the Colchester Arts Centre on January 6 from 8pm.

Tickets are priced £14, £12 for concessions, available on-line at colchesterartscentre.com