On opening night, the Montreal International Jazz Festival exhaled a Hallelujah over Ste. Catherine in tribute to a native son, a citizen of song and Canada's greatest writer. As night fell, and Chris Botti's trumpet floated down from the balcony of the Hyatt Hotel, the crowd exhaled back.

As you may have noticed, Leonard Cohen is a big name in this town - a king really - and the jazz fest showed soul in front-loading its 29th program with his live return to Montreal after 15 years (to Place des Arts) and a full-on tribute blowout on a sultry June night. On Ste. Catherine St., the air was as heavy as your last relationship. Which was apt. Because nobody has written heavier, sultrier songs than Leonard Cohen.

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