John Dankworth is best known as Cleo’s husband and accompanist. However, he was a consistent, if not particularly inventive, player for many years. Freddy Mirfield, who was the leader of the Garbage men, started his career. Dankworth attended the Royal Academy of Music between 1944-1946. He then started playing on transatlantic liners to get to America to hear jazz. In the late 1940s, Dankworth switched to alto and was made a founding member in 1948 of Club Eleven. In 1950, he founded the Johnny Dankworth Seven and led a large jazz group with Laine from 1953 to 1964. Among the many top players who passed through were Derek Smith, Alan Branscombe and Danny Moss as well as Ronnie Ross, Ronnie Ross, Ronnie Ross, Ronnie Ross, Peter King, Ronnie Ross and comedian/actor Dudley Moore. Dankworth was Laine’s music director from 1971 to reduce the band to ten members. In the early 1980s, Dankworth formed a touring quintet. Dankworth’s reputation as a composer was greater than that of a musician. He wrote pieces for a jazz band and composed film scores. He and Laine founded the Wavendon Allmusic Plan in 1969, which was a cultural organization that presented international performers in its 300-seat concert hall. Dankworth gave hundreds of lectures, conducted workshops, seminars, classes, and also led classes. In 1974, he was awarded the Jazz Ambassador Award for his contribution to jazz in England. Dankworth, 86, died in London on February 6, 2010 after a long battle with illness. Allmusic
