The Real Deal
D. Carleton | Lansing, Michigan United States | 03/16/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Acker Bilk is best known here in the U.S. as composer and soloist on his million-selling "Stranger On The Shore", and the ATCO LPs with the Leon Young String Chorale which followed. If you are looking for a compilation of those clarinet obligatto with lush strings recordings, this collection is not for you. This is the real deal, Mr. Acker Bilk and his Paramount Jazz Band. Throughout the 1960's, I was only able to find one LP of his jazz work, released here on the Ascot label. That material is found on the first disc of this collection. The first 16 tracks are Trad Jazz at its best, with Bilk's George Lewis-infused clarinet in fine form, recorded in 1958-59. The highly informative booklet gives tracks 1-8 as originally released in the UK on Pye LP "Mr. Acker Bilk Requests", tracks 9-12 from the Pye EP "Marches On", 13-16 from Pye EP "Acker Bilk Sings", with four bonus tracks from "Clarinet Jamboree" (featuring clarinetists Sandy Brown, Terry Lightfoot, Archie Semple in addition to Acker Bilk, from 1971).
The second disc has later material, following his US success, documenting his return to PYE in 1972. Although "Wolverine Blues", "South Rampart Street Parade", and "Burgundy Street Blues" are included, the tone is decidedly more modern, as in a swinging "Sweet Georgia Brown", and a couple of R&B tunes ("Outback", and "Mama Told Me So"). Original releases represented on this disc are "Acker Bilk & The Paramount Jazz Band" (tracks 1-6, recorded in 1972), "Leave Off...It's Us" (tracks 8-11, from 1976), "Mama Told Me So" (tracks 12-17, from 1980), the bonus track being "Smile Sam Smile", a single from 1986. The informative booklet also tells us how Bilk took up the clarinet during his time in the service, and why his fingering style is so unique. This CD is not for the casual listener, but the true collector of Trad Jazz and Swing, and anyone who wants to hear Acker Bilk in a true jazz context."
Track Listings (21) - Disc #1