Wednesday, 26 May 2010

The Heart of Winter


In my last post I mention that Jerry Hope and I had not managed to remain in touch.

At that time I had gone through a divorce and had started a new life in Derby eventually leaving for Shropshire and fatherhood. Jerry had moved from Derby over to Nottingham. Nothing unusual about that, life goes on at a frantic pace and people do what they must.

I first met Jerry when Andy Moore invited me down to take part in a Music/Arts/Spoken Word Cabaret called The Escape Committee. Those involved included Mo Pickering, Edward Symes, Dave McNicholas, Mr Johnson (Andy Moore's fabulous band) Mark Gwynne Jones, Rob Gee, Jerry Hope and me.

The Escape Committee performed at the Lizard Eclipse Festival in 1999 and we made the Channel 4 news by being paid in sweet and savoury Cornish pasties!

Jerry wrote The Heart of Winter specifically for Wild River and the version I used for the album performance was his first take. He nailed it in one! It's full of drama and Jerry's choice of language coupled with his performance makes the piece engaging and magical.

Last night I decided to call Mo and Edward Pickering-Symes to catch up. Eventually the conversation got around to Jerry and Ed said he had bad news for me. Sadly Jerry died of cancer in 2008.

So, if you own a copy of  Wild River play Joely and at the end of it listen to Jerry recite his beautiful poem The Heart of Winter.

Something's aren't meant to last...............

3 comments:

  1. That made my heart sink, sorry for your loss Dave, hope you are good.

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  2. It's been a huge shock to be honest Ryan. He had a great imagination and he had so much more to tell us about.

    BBT are thinking about doing something on a grand scale and I thought Jerry would have been the perfect choice to collaborate with.

    Not to be.............

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  3. I can Imagine, I mean I was shocked and I never knew Jerry.

    I'm sure he lead a good life and has obviously left an impression.

    One door shuts and another shall open...

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