{"artistName":"Acker Bilk","artistId":83011,"artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/89b/89bf3171a1706f8f8fda49354d98830a_xl.jpg","srcset":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/89b/89bf3171a1706f8f8fda49354d98830a_sm.jpg 50w,https://artist99.cdn107.com/89b/89bf3171a1706f8f8fda49354d98830a_md.jpg 80w,https://artist99.cdn107.com/89b/89bf3171a1706f8f8fda49354d98830a_lg.jpg 200w,https://artist99.cdn107.com/89b/89bf3171a1706f8f8fda49354d98830a_xl.jpg 340w","artistBio":"\u003cp\u003eBernard Stanley \"Acker\" Bilk MBE (born 28 January 1929) is an English clarinetist. He is known for his trademark goatee, bowler hat, striped waistcoat and his breathy, vibrato-rich, lower-register clarinet style. Bilk earned the nickname Acker from the Somerset slang for 'friend' or 'mate'. His parents wanted him to learn the piano, but as a boy, Bilk found it restricted his love of outdoor activities including football. He lost two front teeth in a school fight and half a finger in a sledging accident, both of which Bilk has claimed to have affected his eventual clarinet style. He learned the clarinet while serving in the Royal Engineers in the Suez Canal Zone after his sapper friend John A. Britten gave him a clarinet that he had bought at a bazaar and had no use for. The clarinet had no reed and Britten fashioned a makeshift reed for the instrument out of some scrap wood, and by the mid-1950s he was playing professionally.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBilk was part of the boom in traditional jazz that swept the United Kingdom in the late 1950s. He first joined Ken Colyer's band in 1954, and then formed his own ensemble, The Paramount Jazz Band, in 1956. Four years later, their single \"Summer Set,\" a pun on their home county co-written by Bilk and pianist Dave Collett, reached number 8 in the British charts[4] and began a run of eleven top 50 hit singles.\u003c/p\u003e","musicPath":"/music/Acker+Bilk","playStationPath":"/stations/268757339/play","stationId":268757339,"bioPath":"/music/Acker+Bilk/_full_bio","similars":[{"musicPath":"/music/Sonny+Rollins","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/d80/d800649ba535fb22573b2a8e0d4594ca_md.jpg","artistName":"Sonny Rollins","artistId":1575,"station_id":113310239},{"musicPath":"/music/Jimmy+Durante","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/035/035ec3bd45996f4b10c9fa019b4efe4e_md.jpg","artistName":"Jimmy Durante","artistId":8187,"station_id":113445128},{"musicPath":"/music/Frank+Sinatra","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/73d/73de0336324d00275e6b56f598812b69_md.jpg","artistName":"Frank Sinatra","artistId":413,"station_id":113262388},{"musicPath":"/music/Lawrence+Welk","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/77e/77e0524f3edf85e3780ac61eadb6f9ec_md.jpg","artistName":"Lawrence Welk","artistId":99646,"station_id":278058771},{"musicPath":"/music/Chris+Botti","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/23c/23c660df6b433ab084d06d78f7c34c84_md.jpg","artistName":"Chris Botti","artistId":11790,"station_id":113281538},{"musicPath":"/music/Harry+Connick+Jr+","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/12e/12eb7f9f62c7a70e11f5a8acfa243ffe_md.jpg","artistName":"Harry Connick, Jr.","artistId":1529,"station_id":113264077},{"musicPath":"/music/Eddie+Fisher","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/126/126f360b18a1c6b5dce6e027e278ca0b_md.jpg","artistName":"Eddie Fisher","artistId":87710,"station_id":307932970},{"musicPath":"/music/Billy+Eckstine","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/461/46142a9c10e3721adc26b6a0b9a13fe9_md.jpg","artistName":"Billy Eckstine","artistId":2699,"station_id":113443599},{"musicPath":"/music/Richard+Clayderman","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/76c/76ca03cdd1472e0821d7dadb615b1443_md.jpg","artistName":"Richard Clayderman","artistId":1445,"station_id":113435288},{"musicPath":"/music/Dave+Brubeck","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/fd0/fd0285dbcbae0dca62d06834f6070f93_md.jpg","artistName":"Dave Brubeck","artistId":7348,"station_id":113280272},{"musicPath":"/music/Vic+Damone","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/e72/e727e0a545be3b4a0de5b38c705d4f3f_md.jpg","artistName":"Vic Damone","artistId":359624,"station_id":393802320},{"musicPath":"/music/Michael+Franks","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/37e/37e938c723f6bfc5e7cddb813943cc53_md.jpg","artistName":"Michael Franks","artistId":2772,"station_id":113267808},{"musicPath":"/music/Tape+Five","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/567/567533e4716301961dad655bafb1c0cf_md.jpg","artistName":"Tape Five","artistId":107774,"station_id":282140051},{"musicPath":"/music/Keith+Jarrett","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/7b4/7b457c48afec6dacfe09344db029c64e_md.jpg","artistName":"Keith Jarrett","artistId":2642,"station_id":113372936},{"musicPath":"/music/Al+Di+Meola","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/097/097f0248c12f644bb11db7eb77059fbb_md.jpg","artistName":"Al Di Meola","artistId":12226,"station_id":113372300},{"musicPath":"/music/Stephane+Grappelli","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/10e/10e4c3c0bb10901dcbaa0984dbe10ec7_md.jpg","artistName":"Stéphane Grappelli","artistId":1868,"station_id":113345010},{"musicPath":"/music/Matt+Monro","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/0f7/0f7b563ec104a61fbfd4fcb01f7af475_md.jpg","artistName":"Matt Monro","artistId":4997,"station_id":113467459},{"musicPath":"/music/Dean+Martin","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/96e/96e8977fac6dda0b208323b045dcac62_md.jpg","artistName":"Dean Martin","artistId":1490,"station_id":113265494}]}