On Wednesday, September 13, 2017, 10:53:25 AM CDT, Mervyn Maciel wrote: Thanks for the memory, Con Menezes.
Many years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Aker Bilk backstage after his concert at Fairfield Halls in Croydon. I had taken a French lady friend of mine who was visiting us from the Swiss borders to his concert. Since she couldn't believe that I could introduce her to the man himself, she was more than delighted when he autographed a copy of his LPshe'd bought earlier that evening. I had to listen to 'Strangers on the Shore' once more and re-live the day! ---------------------------------- Namesake,In the mid eighties, we were driving on tracks in southern Tanzania when we came across a guy trying to chop down a 15 ft ebony tree with a panga. For those who are unaware, it takes a day with an axe, to chop down an ebony tree that is 4 inches in diameter. It is almost impossible to cut one down with a machete. We stopped the landrovers and told him that we had seen a lioness just a few miles from him and asked him if he was not scared being out there alone. The man replied that he had already slept in the tree for a night and that after the tree fell, it would take him two more days to chop of the trunk 4 ft from the first cut. We assumed the guy was going to sell the wood to the Makonde carvers, so we carried on our journey. The next day, we were at a tented river camp which had a bamboo bar that overhung a river. There were five mzungu guys who were making a noise but one guy looked very familiar. To make a long story short, Mr. Aker Bilk was in that party. He claimed that the best clarinet wood came from Tanzania so he made the safari to see where/how the tree grew. His ultimate purpose was to compose a tune for the tree. I don't know if he succeeded in composing a tune from that safari but I did get to shake his hand in Tanzania. Mervyn
