Jazz clarinettist Acker Bilk dies aged 85 It was not until his National Service in Egypt before the Suez Crisis, that he developed a love for the clarinet. "In the army you could borrow musical instruments on loan, and as I'd played recorder a bit as I kid, I took out a clarinet," he said in an interview to mark his 80th birthday. Before long we got a little band going - the Original Egyptian Stompers. He took the Ministry of Defence clarinet home with him and started playing in Bristol's jazz clubs in the 1950s before his big break when he was spotted by a PR playing in a beer bar in Dusseldorf, Germany. It was as the Bristol Paramount Jazz Band that he and a couple of Pensford locals moved to London in 1951. Bilk lost three teeth in a school punch-up and half a finger in a sledging accident, which he always maintained were the reasons for his distinctive style. The musician spent much of his latter years fighting a series of illnesses. In October 1999 he noticed his voice had become hoarse and he suspected growths in the throat - a problem common to many singers. But after seeking medical advice he was told it was throat cancer and he underwent six weeks of radiotherapy treatment which resulted in a number of shows being played by the band without him. He also received surgery at least eight times for bladder cancer and had a small stroke in his early eighties. However he still retained his passion for music and went on performing until 2013. Mrs Sutton, who was Bilk's personal manager for 45 years, said he had "been ill for some time. He was my great friend and his music was legendary. "He had a great sense of humour in every way," she added. He just loved life. She said that he died around 2pm with his wife Jean by his side, saying that "age caught up with him." Poet Ian McMillan tweeted: "Goodbye Acker Bilk, creator of one of the great earworms. That shore was strange, but memorable. He leaves his wife Jean, daughter Jenny and son Pete.