COHEN'S COMPOSITIONS TAKEN TO ANOTHER REALM.

Byline: Fred Shuster

Music Writer

Ancient scriptures, parables and legends -- along with romance in all its tangled forms -- have always inspired the poetry and songs of Leonard Cohen.

In songs like "Story of Isaac," the poet, novelist and singer recasts Abraham's attempted sacrifice of his son as a contemporary morality play. Another number, "Who by Fire," is derived from a Jewish prayer recited on Yom Kippur, and one of Cohen's most famous songs, "Hallelujah," compares spiritualism to romantic yearning.

It's the spiritual aspect of Cohen's huge body of work that Perla Batalla, a former backup singer for the bard, aims to illuminate at Saturday's tribute concert to Cohen at UCLA's Royce Hall.

Batalla's "The Gospel According to Leonard Cohen," presented by UCLA Live, brings together singers Jackson Browne, Michael McDonald, Howard Tate, Dave Alvin and Julie Christensen in the service of such enduring songs as "Bird on the Wire," "Sisters of Mercy" and "Joan of Arc."

Cohen's music "will live forever," Batalla says. "The songs and themes are beautiful, and they will be discussed and appreciated for as long as people are on this planet."

Called the "poet of pessimism" for his funereal delivery and mordant lyrics, the Montreal-born Cohen, 72, is the subject of a series of events this year.

Expanded editions of his first three albums -- "Songs of Leonard Cohen" (1967), "Songs From a Room" (1969) and "Songs of Love and Hate" (1970) -- will be issued in April by Columbia, the record label he's been associated with for 40 years.

The 50th-anniversary edition of "Let Us Compare Mythologies," Cohen's first book of poetry, will be published in May.

And a new piece by composer Philip Glass based on Cohen's book of poetry "Book of Longing," has been conceived as an evening-length concert work composed for musicians, singers, spoken word and imagery. It premieres in June at the Luminato Festival in Toronto before going on tour.

"Artists want to interpret the work because the writing is so deep that it has different levels of truth for every person," said Batalla, who recorded a collection of Cohen's songs a few years ago. "There's no obvious way to do the songs. I've seen these songs done in ways I could never have imagined."

Batalla said the actual Royce Hall program would be decided during rehearsals, but she planned to sing "Bird on the Wire," which she performs in "I'm Your Man," the DVD/CD release of producer Hal Willner's star-studded Cohen documentary and tribute concerts set in Australia and the U.K.

In the film, U2's the Edge muses that Cohen is "the man who comes down from the mountaintop with tablets of stone."

Along with a cast of well-known singers, the UCLA Live event will include such dependable players as bassist Don Was, drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, and guitarists Bill Frisell and Greg Leisz.

"When I was putting this together, everyone just jumped at it," said Batalla, a Los Angeles native who has been known to sing everything from traditional Latino music to bluesy ballads. "Michael McDonald didn't even wait one second -- he just said yes immediately, and Jackson Browne said the same thing. It's a great opportunity to sing this delicious music."

As far as Cohen himself dropping by, Batalla says it's possible, although he's apparently wrapped up in the birth of his first grandchild at the moment.

"Leonard is a very humble man, and he wonders why all this is happening," Batalla said. "But he loves it and is deeply honored when these things happen."

Fred Shuster, [phone]

[e-mail]

PERLA BATALLA

What: UCLA Live presents singer-songwriter Batalla's "The Gospel According to Leonard Cohen," with Jackson Browne, Michael McDonald, Howard Tate, Julie Christensen and more.

Where: Royce Hall, UCLA campus, Westwood.

When: 8 p.m. Saturday.

Tickets: $28 to $52. [phone]; www.uclalive.org.

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Photo:

(1 -- 2) Perla Batalla, left, was a backup singer for Leonard Cohen, above. She explores the spiritual side of his music Saturday at UCLA.