[Dixielandjazz] Acker Bilk in Poland

[Marek Boym]

Dear Bill,
Whatever Chilton says (I have the book), he speaks of the later band.  It
might have been 1956 (I left Poland in March 1957), but I believe it to
have been earlier.  Pity I have not written down what Acker himself told me
- he was very excited to meet someone who had actually attended one of his
concerts in Poland; after all, it was his first foreign tour!  To us, it
was a real event - our first chance to experience western musicians playing
there (there were perhaps two or three professional bands in Poland - small
wonder bearing  in mind until mid-1953 jazz was strictly forbidden).
After that there were many occasions, but it was too late for me.  As to
Acker, he visited Poland quite a few times, the last one not long before
his death.
Cheers,
Marek

On Sat, 25 Apr 2020 at 03:44, Bill Haesler <bhaesler at bigpond.net.au> wrote:

> > Marek Boym <marekboym at gmail.com> wrote:
> > While trying to ascertain the year of Acker's first visit to Poland, the
> only reference I could find was the correspondence at the end of this
> message,
> > When I spoke to Bilk in 1992, he told me what the year was.  I thought
> it was '54, but I believe he made it a year later (it could have been '53
> and '54 - I don't recall).
> > 1958 - certainly not!  By then I was already in Israel, having left
> Poland in March 1957!
>
>
> Good morning Marek,
> John Chilton in his definitive 'Who's Who Of British Jazz' (2nd E. 2004)
> says (in part):
>
> "[Acker Bil] ...After demobilisation formed own band which played
> regularly in Bristol. Moved to London, played for seven months with Ken
> Colyer], then, for domestic reasons, moved back to the West Country in late
> 1954. Again led Paramount Jazz Band in Bristol area; the band also visited
> Poland in the summer of 1956. Acker deputised in Bristol Stompers during
> early 1957, then resumed his own band. The band, with personnel changes,
> played a residency in London during the summer of 1957. It became fully
> professional in October 1957 and soon afterwards played dates in
> Dusseldorf, Germany."
>
> As you will know the early Bilk Paramount Jazz Band recorded for Doug
> Dobell's  for 77 Records which he licensed or sold to other companies.
> I have one of these (Presto released in 1965) featuring some of the Metro
> Club sessions in August & December 1957 with sleeve notes by Doug Dobell
> that include the following:
>
>  "But the urge was strong to again form a band of his own, and so it was
> that the Paramount Jazz Band came into being in 1957. One of its first
> assignments was to go to Poland, and then, after a while back in London,
> they did a stint at the Beer Bar in Dusseldorf with quite a measure if
> success."
>
> Based on the above, there were two trips to Poland. In mid 1956 and late
> 1957 - early 1958.
> Kind regards,
> Bill.
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