Tomorrow (Saturday, February 28) will mark the second anniversary of the death of Billy Thorpe.
Thorpe was working on his most adventurous project ever when he died. He called the project ‘Tangier’.Close friend Michael Chugg and Amanda Pelman took on the project after Billy’s death so that the album could be released.
“We have lived with Billy’s gestation of this remarkable work for so many years now, upon his passing it just seemed ‘normal’ to proceed with its completion,” they said in a statement.
“More than simply a duty of care, it became an imperative that his fans should hear this extraordinary tapestry of song. We were lucky to find in producer Daniel Denholm someone as ‘in tune’ with Billy, without ever having known him, that the project is about to have its realisation. Stay tuned.”
Billy’s wife Lynn is equally excited that the music will soon be heard by fans. “Billy’s magnificent ‘Tangier’ reflects the many aspects of ‘Thorpie’ that not many knew - the deep thinker, the marveller at the wonders of the universe and the nature of love and the fleetingness of life, and the ever curious and enthusiastic musical traveller and adventurer,” she said.
“He never stopped trying to break the boundaries. Come on the journey that has been our life since the turn of the century. It will blow you away.”
Shortly before he died, Billy said, “From my experiences in a 40-year international music and recording career, I know instinctively when something really special comes along. I feel it in my joints and it won’t let go. I wake and sleep in its rhythm and cadence. It consumes me and simply demands to be brought to life. And that’s ‘Tangier’.”
Fans all over the world will spare a though for the decades of music Billy gave them tomorrow.
And shortly we will hear Tangier.
