Feature

Sir John Dankworth (remembered): Here's Johnny!

He was a pioneer in Jazz, one of the scenes leading lights, and served as a musical director to the likes of Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald. This one is for Johnny, gone but not forgotten.

Born John Phillip William Dankworth on the 20th of September 1927 and raised in Woodford, Essex, Johnny grew up in a family of musicians. He studied violin and piano before settling on the clarinet at the age of 16, after hearing a record of the Benny Goodman Quartet. Soon afterwards, inspired by Johnny Hodges, he learned to play alto saxophone. He swiftly progressed to a place at London’s Royal Academy of Music, where his jazz leanings were frowned upon.

In 1949, after stint of national service, Johnny joined ‘Geraldo’s Navy' - working as an alto saxophone player with dance bands aboard transatlantic liners. A colleague from those days was Ronnie Scott, and they both haunted jazz clubs in New York on their frequent visits there. Bop innovators such as Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, and Dizzy Gillespie left a strong impression on the young men, then barely out of their teens. They brought the message back to Britain and spearheaded the bop movement in the UK, founding the Club Eleven, a London nightclub where bop was the order of the day. Johnny joined the Tito Burns Sextet at about this time and also doubled as alto saxophonist and arranger for the Ambrose band.

For several years from 1949, he had begun to emerge as a consistent 'Melody Maker' popularity poll winner in several categories: Musician Of The Year, Top Alto Player, Top Arranger, and more. In the natural course of events, Johnny formed a small band known as The Johnny Dankworth Seven, and they made their debut to a mixed reception at the London Palladium on March 5th, 1950, as part of Ted Heath's Sunday Swing Session. The group's repertoire on that night wasn't commercial enough for most of the audience, and before long the band had to compromise in order to survive. He readily admitted that the group was considerably influenced by Miles Davis’ epoch-making, albeit short-lived, nine-piece band of September 1948. The Johnny Dankworth Seven lasted considerably longer, breaking up in July 1953. The ensemble had plenty of ideas of its own and was certainly no carbon copy of any American group. In retrospect it emerges as a very significant and original part of British jazz history.

The great British songstress, Dame Cleo Laine, was to play a great part in Johnny Dankworth’s work and life. After a successful audition, Cleo made regular appearances with the band. The pairing was a indeed a special one, and in 1958 Johnny and Cleo were married. Ten years later, they bought the Old Rectory at Wavendon, Buckinghamshire, and converted the stables in their back yard into a small concert hall. The following year, the Wavendon Allmusic Plan (a charitable organisation) was launched, the main aim of which was to break down the artificial barriers between classical, popular and other forms of music.
A varied collection of music spans the five years from 1953 to 1958, and includes the hit record, Experiments With Mice, which dates from 1956. At the time of this recording, Johnny had recently changed the instrumentation of the orchestra by reducing the saxophone section to three (alto, tenor and baritone) and adding an extra trumpet and trombone - this created a new sound and placed the soloists in the front line. A year later the band recorded Big Jazz Story which is based on the same lines as Experiments With Mice and sets out, in a light-hearted way, to portray jazz history. Often underrated as a saxophonist, Johnny is given a chance to shine in the alto solos he provides on 'It's The Talk Of The Town' and 'You Go To My Head'. The style is markedly his own and reflects the "cool" sound which was popular in the Fifties as typified by Lee Konitz and Paul Desmond.

The Dankworth Orchestra's first American concert took place at the Newport Jazz Festival on July 3rd 1959 and proved a great success. Johnny disbanded the orchestra early in 1960 but re-formed a new band in the summer of that year. During the next decade his activities were mainly centred on writing music for many films, commercials and television serials, including his iconic theme song for ‘The Avengers’.

In 1970, Johnny and Cleo set up another charity, The Wavendon Foundation. This was formed with the objective of raising funds to benefit both individual young musicians in need of financial aid, and organisations seeking support for music education projects. In October 2000, with the aid of an Arts Council lottery grant, the new Stables Theatre, built adjacent to the original stables block, was opened. It continues to function as a pivotal venue for performers, students, and audiences alike. Always looking to help fellow musicians, Dankworth was a professor at Gresham College, giving free lectures in the mid-1980s.

Sir John remained an active composer until later life, and continued touring with his wife, Cleo, until the end of 2009, playing his last concert at the age of 82, shortly before his death. Music ran in Johnny’s blood, and in the genes, too. Both of his children with Cleo Laine -Alec and Jacqui- are jazz musicians.
Dankworth received many awards and accolades during his lifetime, and his services to music earned him a CBE and a Knighthood from Her Majesty the Queen.

As impressive as his list of achievements and associations are, an article can only fall desperately short when it comes to describing what Johnny Dankworth really meant. Listen to his music and It will tell the whole story.

To celebrate the life of this great musician, the Digital Gramophone Company will be releasing a retrospective of Johnny Dankworth and Cleo Laine at the end of March 2010, which will be available on Itunes and all other major download stores.

JOHNNY DANKWORTH & CLEO LAINE – ARCHIVE ’53-‘58

FULL TRACK-LISTING BELOW:

1. Experiments With Mice (Dankworth) Johnny Dankworth and His Orchestra - Narrator: Johnny Dankworth

2. Get Happy (Arlen)
Johnny Dankworth and His Orchestra featuring Derek Smith (piano)

3. I Know You're Mine (J & N Murrells)
Cleo Laine with Johnny Dankworth and His Orchestra

4. Somebody Loves Me (Gershwin)
Johnny Dankworth and His Orchestra

5. You Go To My Head (Coots)
Johnny Dankworth and His Orchestra featuring Johnny Dankworth (alto saxophone)

6. I Got Rhythm (G & I Gershwin)
Cleo Laine with Johnny Dankworth and His Orchestra

7. All Clare (Dankworth)
Johnny Dankworth and His Orchestra featuring Kenny Clare (drums)

8. Ain't Misbehavin' (Razaf, Brooks, Waller)
Cleo Laine with Johnny Dankworth and His Orchestra

9. Idaho (Stone)
Johnny Dankworth and His Orchestra

10. Runnin' Wild (Gibbs arr. Dankworth)
Johnny Dankworth and His Orchestra featuring Keith Christie (trombone)

11. I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good) (Webster, Ellington)
Cleo Laine with Johnny Dankworth and His Orchestra

12. Big Jazz Story (Dankworth)
Johnny Dankworth and His Orchestra - Narrator: Johnny Dankworth

13. The Colonel's Tune (Dankworth)
Johnny Dankworth and His Orchestra

14. Honeysuckle Rose (Razaf, Waller)
Cleo Laine with The Johnny Dankworth Seven

15. Adios (Madriguera)
Campbell Connelly & Co. Ltd. Johnny Dankworth and His Orchestra
Words Hugh Palmer & Oliver Carr