Jersey Jazz - New Jersey Jazz Society

JerseyArticlesJazz
Big Band
in the Sky
By Sanford Josephson
■ John Dankworth, 82, alto
saxophonist/bandleader, Sept. 20,
1927, Woodford, England – Feb. 6,
2010, London. While he was undoubtedly
better known in England than in
the United States, John Dankworth was
both respected and, in fact, revered by
many U.S. jazz musicians. In 1964, he
recorded an album called The Zodiac
Variations, which featured such musicians
as trumpeter Clark Terry, alto
saxophonist Phil Woods and trombonist
Bob Brookmeyer. Although they
didn’t see him often over the years,
many of these musicians cherished his
friendship and were greatly saddened
by his passing. “I loved him very
much,” said Terry. “He was very, very
cordial to me when I was in England.
I used to stay in his home, and he
and Cleo [his wife, vocalist Cleo Laine]
treated me like a king. He was a great
person and a great player.”
Dankworth grew up outside London
studying piano and violin, but switched to
clarinet, influenced by Benny Goodman,
and then to alto saxophone, influenced by
Johnny Hodges and Charlie Parker. His first
band, the Dankworth Seven, was formed in
1949. In 1951, Laine joined that group and
married him seven years later. By that time,
he had formed a big band, which endured
until 1964. In the meantime, Laine became a
popular vocalist and, in the ’70s, Dankworth
devoted much of his time to serving as her
musical director. In 2006, he was knighted
by Queen Elizabeth; Laine had been
made a Dame of the British Empire nine
years earlier.
Woods, also greatly influenced by Charlie
Parker, first met Dankworth in the late
1950s while touring in Europe with the
Quincy Jones big band. “Later,” he recalled,
“when I moved to Europe and started my
sojourn in London at Ronnie Scott’s club,
Cleo and Sir John would come by often, and
it was always a good E flat laugh when we
hung out together, along with Annie Ross
Actor Robert Mitchum, left, meets with Cleo Laine and John Dankworth backstage
between sets at The Blue Note in New York, October 11, 1985. Photo by Mitchell Seidel.
and her husband, Sean.” In Woods’ opinion,
Dankworth was, “a pivotal figure on the
European jazz scene and was not only a
great instrumentalist but a great composer/
arranger as well. He will be missed!”
Dankworth had a long association with
Duke Ellington and his son, Mercer. In the
’90s, he and Laine recorded an album with
the Mercer-led Ellington band that featured,
among others, trumpeter Barrie Lee Hall
and trombonist Art Baron. Baron recalls it
as, “a very cool album. Johnny did all the
charts, and they were fun to play. Some stuff
was borrowed from the Maestro [Ellington],
and a lot of it was Johnny’s own, although
influenced by Duke.” Playing with
Dankworth, says Baron, “was such a joy.
He was a beautiful arranger, a great guy.
He was very creative and talented.” In 2005,
the John Dankworth Quintet recorded a
tribute album to Ellington entitled In a
Mellow Tone (Universal/Absolute).
Pianist Derek Smith moved from London to
New York in the mid-1950s, and he recalls
that he “idolized Johnny Dankworth.” In his
early 20s, Smith, under the influence of his
parents, was still working in the insurance
business, but, “I would sneak out and do
gigs with him. He finally got me out of
insurance and with his band. Cleo — I still
call her Clem — was the band singer. Seeing
little future as the pianist in a big band, no
matter how good, I left after a year, got into
the London studios and eventually came to
New York. I saw little of them after that
except for the occasional jazz cruise or when
they asked me to fill in while they were
between piano players for her act.”
In the late ’50s and through the ’60s,
Dankworth wrote music for movies and
television shows such as Darling, Saturday
Night and Sunday Morning and The Avengers,
and Smith once asked him why he didn’t do
more of this type of writing. “He said the
producers didn’t call after awhile, so he
devoted himself to his wife’s career. Our
only contact in the last few years were
Christmas cards. I’ll miss him.”
Baron says he was scheduled be part of a
tour with Dankworth and Laine’s small
group in January 2009, but, “unfortunately,
Cleo broke her leg just before the tour, and
it wasn’t rescheduled.” Dankworth’s death
was actually announced by Laine on the
stage of The Stables, a theater in the town of
Milton Keynes that the couple had run for
continued on page 10
8
___________________________________ May 2010