Archive listings for Acker Bilk & Kenny Ball

Work type: Concert

Other listings
5 Oct 11	The Opera House, Buxton :: V424 listing details L1066748407

Details

Mr Acker Bilk - honoured with an MBE in 2001 for his services to music - began his career as a clarinettist in the Ken Colyer Band, before forming the Bristol Paramount Jazz Band. In 1961 Acker recorded Stranger on the Shore, the first-ever recording to be number one simultaneously in the UK and USA. It stayed in the UK chart for an amazing 55 weeks, and was No 58 in the list of most popular singles since the charts began. With his famous bowler hat and waistcoat, Acker continues to delight audiences. For more than forty years Kenny Ball has flown the flag for his particular brand of Traditional Jazz all over the world. It is a tribute to his stamina and musical integrity that Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen are as popular today as they were back in 1960 when they had their first chart hit with Samantha, followed by 14 top thirty records including Midnight in Moscow a Top Two in both the UK and USA. Today, Kenny Ball is identified with great jazz but also wonderful entertainment, for Kenny, like his hero Louis Armstrong, believes in making jazz attractive to the general public.