Jazz clarinettist Acker Bilk hosts a series of musical performances from his own nightclub in Bristol.
Host Acker Bilk presents this jazz series from the authentic setting of The Old Granary, his own nightclub in Bristol. With his resident Paramount Jazz Band, Bilk performs and welcomes a variety of musical guests for informal sessions. The programme featured appearances from artists such as jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson, soul singer Madeline Bell, and vocalist and critic George Melly.
This HTV West production built an entire series around the public persona of Acker Bilk, one of the leading figures of the British trad jazz boom. By setting the programme in Bilk’s own Bristol nightclub, the production achieved an air of authenticity, eschewing a formal television studio for the atmosphere of a working music venue. The format presented Bilk as a genial host at the centre of his own musical world, performing with his band and conversing with guests drawn from the worlds of jazz and popular song. It was a simple and effective framework for music television, grounding the performances in a tangible, intimate space.
Broadcast: ITV – HTV West, 6 Episodes, Fridays, 5 March – 16 April 1971
Host: Acker Bilk
With: The Paramount Jazz Band
Guests Included: Maynard Ferguson, Jo Stahl, Lennie Hastings, Fiona Duncan, Alan Haven, Madeline Bell, Danny Moss, Jeannie Lambe, Clinton Ford, George Chisholm, George Melly, Sandy Brown.
