Jazz legend Acker Bilk dies

Despite a diagnosis of throat cancer in 2000, Acker Bilk continued performing until August 2013. According to his agent, Pamela Sutton, Bilk died in a hospital in the southwestern English city of Bath. "He was my best friend, and his music was legendary," said Sutton, who worked for Bilk for 45 years.

Acker Bilk, whose given name was Bernard Stanley Bilk, made his mark on the jazz revival of the 1950's and '60s. Bilk played first in jazz bars in Bristol, England before being discovered in a tavern in Düsseldorf by a PR agent. Bilk himself credited his unique style in part to the two teeth missing after a schoolyard fight in his youth.

Four gold records

Bilk discovered his passion for the clarinet in military service in Egypt during the Suez crisis. "I was able to borrow instruments in the army," he said in an interview on his 80th birthday. After being discharged, he founded a band, the "Original Egyptian Stompers." The artist's onstage trademark attire was a bowler hat and striped vest.

In 1961, the release "Stranger on the Shore" earned Bilk four gold records. It reached the top of the US charts and remained in the British charts for more than a year. This song became Bilk's signature tune. He later downplayed it, however, explaining, "I didn't think it was much different from any of the rest of it. It was just a thing that came out of my head."

Suc/ rf /bf (dpa/ bbc)