E-mails from Hytho...

Three web links that are of interest, all of Jimmy duetting with Al Bowlly: "Only Forever 1940": https://archive.org.details/AlBowlyJimmyMesene-OnlyForever1940 "When that man is dead and gone": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhaHJH5u44Q "Nicky the Greek" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvU8JLcERGI&feature=player_detailpage Hytho, April, 2014 Recollections of the Mesene family by Jimmy's great-niece Hytho... I am Jimmy Mesene's great niece named after his sister, my maternal grandmother, Hytho. I have also been named Heidi from the British/German Dr. who delivered me in Salisbury, Rhodesia stating to my mother that nobody in Rhodesia (then still under Bristish colonization) would ever be able to pronounce “Hytho” - so the story goes...! I was, however, baptized Hytho in the Greek Orthodox church as a baby and to the Greeks I have always been Hytho – especially to my grandmother. We were very close and shared a lot of the same sentiments and gifts... I am so grateful to have stumbled onto this precious website dedicated to my great Uncle Jimmy. I happened to stumble on it when a friend of ours in the music industry (Fabio Giotta - Caffe Trieste, San Francisco and recording studio.. who sings/plays Italian songs from the 30’s-40’s and was familiar with my Uncle’s name) challenged me to do a search on my Uncle late last year around this time....I will always be grateful for that conversation! All through the years growing up, I would hear about my grandmother’s fond memories of her brother and how Uncle Jimmy made a big name for himself. She showed me the same photo of his only child, my young cousin, Jim, in his Yukata as posted on the website. She was tender toward him as she shared it with me. I heard his voice on the phone once when I answered his long distance call to speak with my grandmother during our many visits to Greece. My grandmother would share about Uncle Jimmy’s success, owned all of his compositions and sang his songs to me accompanied by either the piano or guitar. Many times I would hear them acapella. She always sang and played with deeply passionate expression. I imagine Uncle Jimmy was the same during his private time as he was on stage or recording. She was very proud of him but also had regrets as she was not given the chance to excel in her gifts and, yet, her brother was freely given his successful chance for fame. She was trained classically to read music and played both instruments by ear. She will always be remembered by me and all her family members for the joy she brought through music when we were visiting her and the unity it brought in us. I have missed her so much since her passing almost eight years ago. Music was a natural part of our family, starting with Uncle Jimmy as far as I know, and we continue with ourselves and our children... My grandmother’s and Uncle Jimmy’s sister, Poppy who recently passed away, married a famous tenor, (Tano (or Nassi) Ferendinos), who sang in the London Opera so music was a big part of family life growing up. I have been writing songs, singing and playing music myself. However, my desire has deepened since discovering my Uncle’s website and learning so much about a family member I hold in high esteem and so dear to my heart. I am researching as much as I can and I will continue posting as I hopefully discover more about him. My grandmother did mention two significantly famous songs known well today that he actually wrote but for which he did not claim or receive the credits. I can see and hear her so clearly and resolutely stating these songs as his (more than once and confirmed by my mother as hearing the same) but I will have to think about whether or not to post...I can only give this much thus far. The song he recorded as The Masked Singer: “Isn’t This a Time for Love” was played in the 1933 movie “Melody Cruise”. My mother shared with me that my grandmother, Hytho, told her stories of Uncle Jimmy as a very young prodigy writing songs with guitar in hand and strangers passing by would stop to look and listen. She also stated that uncle Jimmy performed with Al Bowlly at the Royal Albert Hall, London. Unfortunately, our whole family lost complete contact with Uncle Jimmy when he moved from the UK. My mother shared that Aunt Dolly found him in Canada and was scheduled to visit him just a few days before he died when he suffered a stroke and fell from his wheelchair. My mother, Coralia, remembers that her sister, Aunt Dolly (7 years older) said she was contacted by Jimmy's wife, Hilda, 3 days before her visit to Canada as Uncle Jimmy had just died. Nobody in the family ever heard from Uncle Jimmy after he remarried and she had searched a long time to find a way to contact him and had finally found him, but he was gone 3 days before her planned flight to Canada. She did say that he became a much heavier drinker in Canada and led a very isolated life. I imagine that the trauma from the war and the sudden, tragic death of Al Bowlly, his dear friend, Best Man at his wedding and partner in music and his mysterious separation from all family members had a devestating effect on him. He attempted to continue, in various ways both in the UK and in the USA, to pursue his musical career to no avail. Even though he won a song writing competition in Canada he may have grown heavily disillusioned and life in music was no longer the same. My mother said that his mother, (his Sweetest Sweetheart of All), was deeply distraught and consumed for all those long years not hearing from her son. Hytho, January, 2012.

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