Nico CarstensSouth Africa |1926| AfrikaansNicolaas Cornelius Carstens, a.k.a. Nico Carstens, was a songwriter, accordionist, and musician from South Africa.Six months after Carstens' 13th birthday, he won an adult music competition. It was his first accordion. At the age of seventeen, he wrote his first piece of music.
The world-famous song "Zambezi" by Carstens grew popular and was covered by a number of performers, including Eddie Calvert, Acker Bilk, Bert Kaempfert, The Shadows, James Last, Chet Atkins, Floyd Cramer, and Johnny Dankworth.