Sir John Dankworth, 1927–2010
Jazz Musician, Evacuee
Johnny Dankworth was an English jazz composer, saxophonist, clarinettist and writer of film scores.
He was evacuated to Leominster with the George Monoux School during the Second World War.
Born in Woodford, Essex, Johnny Dankworth grew up in Chingford. He attended the Sir George Monoux Grammar School in Walthamstow and was evacuated to Leominster with the school during the Second World War.
After studying at London’s Royal Academy of Music he began his career on the British jazz scene and then national service in the Royal Air Force, during which he played alto sax and clarinet for RAF Music Services. After his National Service he went on to play for a number of bands, until he was ‘noticed’ playing with Charlie Parker. In 1949, Dankworth was voted Musician of the Year.
Johnny Dankworth and His Orchestra formed in 1953 and had a top 10 novelty hit song in 1956 in the UK, “Experiments with Mice” based on “Three Blind Mice”, which parodied a number of jazz bands and artists. He married Cleo Laine in 1957.
The band earning plaudits from the critics and was invited to the 1959 Newport Jazz Festival, the first British group to receive an invite. They also performed at a jazz event in New York’s where Louis Armstrong joined them for a set.
In 1959, Dankworth became chair of the Stars Campaign for Inter-Racial Friendship, set up to combat the fascist White Defence League.
Dankworth began a second career as a composer of film and television scores. Among his best-known credits are the original themes for The Avengers and Tomorrow’s World. He also wrote the scores for the films Darling (1965) and Modesty Blaise and Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment (both 1966).
He always had an enthusiasm for jazz education, for many years running the Allmusic summer schools near Milton Keynes, a theatre that Laine and he created in January 1970 in their back garden. From 1984 to 1986, Dankworth was professor of music at Gresham College, London, giving free public lectures.
In 1982, Dankworth was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music, and was knighted in 2006. He and Dame Cleo Laine were one of the few married couples where both partners held titles in their own right.
This biography is largely based on the Johnny Dankworth entry in Wikipedia.
