“That’s Mister Acker Bilk to you. Bilk, real name Bernard, learnt the clarinet whilst in the army, stationed in Egypt, when the British were occupying the Suez Canal in the way they are wont to do. In 1962 his instrumental composition Stranger On The Shore was a huge hit both sides of the Atlantic and the first no 1 in the US by a Brit. It remains his calling card and a jazz classic. Stranger is not on this album however, these tracks all date from 1959 before his big break. . Bilk was already wearing his trademark bowler hat and striped waistcoat when he started performing on the Bristol jazz scene soon after being demobbed. With his Paramount band, they toured the London circuit in the early 50s and played a key role in the boom of British Trad Jazz, a revival of original New Orleans Dixieland. My grandfather was a big fan of Trad Jazz, and this is one of the records I inherited from him, along with several others by Humphrey Lyttleton and Chris Barber who later recorded and toured with Acker Bilk. . If it hadn’t been for my rediscovery of my record collection through this here random review, this record would have remained sequestered and unplayed. Which would have been a crying shame, because it’s wonderful. . Tracks include classics of the early jazz era: Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen, the 1932 Yiddish song made famous by The Andrews Sisters five years later and then covered and played by everyone since. The 1914 St Louis Blues by WC Handy, known as “the jazzman’s Hamlet” because everyone wants to play it as a seminal work. Scott Joplin’s 1907 Gladiolus Rag, which may not be as famous as his Maple Leaf Rag or The Entertainer but showcases his signature syncopated style. I recall ‘playing’ Maple Leaf and The Entertainer as a child on my grandfather’s pianola, excitedly pumping the bellows with my feet to turn the rolls...” . FOR FULL REVIEW & PLAYLIST CLICK LINK IN BIO: . #ackerbilk #paramountjazzband #dixielandjazz #tradjazz #britishjazz #clarinet #stlouisblues #beimirbistduschoen #vinyl #recordcollection #nowplaying #randomrecordreview https://www.instagram.com/p/CBdeQ6np2s4/?igshid=5gt37cvls7xh
