John Dankworth

John Dankworth was widely recognized around the world chiefly as Cleo Laine’s lifelong husband and musical partner, although his own playing remained reliable rather than groundbreaking across many decades. His first professional work came in Freddy Mirfield’s novelty and traditional outfit, the Garbage Men. He attended the Royal Academy of Music from 1944 to 1946, after which he took jobs on transatlantic liners that allowed him to reach the United States and listen to jazz firsthand. Switching to alto saxophone in the late 1940s, he became one of the founding members of Club Eleven in 1948. He launched the Johnny Dankworth Seven in 1950 and, between 1953 and 1964, directed a large jazz orchestra that featured Laine; the lineup included Derek Smith, Alan Branscombe, Danny Moss, Peter King, Ronnie Ross, and the comedian-actor Dudley Moore. In 1971 Dankworth became Laine’s music director and reduced the group to ten pieces, then assembled a touring quintet in the early 1980s. Composition brought him wider notice than performance; he produced operatic scores, works for jazz band plus symphony orchestra, and numerous film soundtracks. With Laine he founded the Wavendon Allmusic Plan in 1969, a cultural organization that presented artists from every genre in its 300-seat hall. He also delivered hundreds of lectures and taught countless classes, workshops, and seminars, receiving an award in 1974 for his services to jazz in England. Dankworth died in London on February 6, 2010, at age 86 following several months of illness.