John Dankworth

Born in London, England, in 1927, John Dankworth was brought up in a musical environment amongst a family of musicians. He had violin and piano lessons before settling eventually on the clarinet at the age of 16, after hearing a record of t

Born in London, England, in 1927, John Dankworth was brought up in a musical environment amongst a family of musicians. He had violin and piano lessons before settling eventually on the clarinet at the age of 16, after hearing a record of the Benny Goodman Quartet. Soon after that, inspired by Johnny Hodges, he added the alto saxophone to his armoury.

After a spell at London’s Royal Academy of Music, and another in the army, he began an illustrious career on the British jazz scene, being voted Musician of the Year in 1949. During that year he attended the Paris Jazz Festival and played with alto-sax giant Charlie “Yardbird” Parker. Parker’s comments about Dankworth led to the engagement of the young British jazzman for a short tour of Sweden with the legendary soprano-saxist Sidney Bechet.