Dankworth one of few Britons in jazz pantheon

Sir John Dankworth, jazz musician. Died aged 82.

Johnny Dankworth was one of the few British musicians who not only were world-class but were recognised as such, taking to the stage on clarinet or sax with the proverbial Who's Who of jazz, from Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock to Gerry Mulligan, Oscar Peterson and Ella Fitzgerald.

On one occasion, dining with Duke Ellington at the house of the Queen's cousin, Gerald Lascelles, Dankworth even stepped in at the piano when the Duke found he'd forgotten one of his own tunes halfway through - not an act many would have been capable of.

One reason Dankworth will be so missed and remembered so fondly is for his commitment to share that passion. It was 40 years ago that he and his wife, Cleo Laine, established The Stables at Wavendon, a charity that has provided education and opportunities for generations of young musicians.

He also instigated the jazz course at the Royal Academy of Music, an area of study common in such institutions now, but highly controversial in classical circles at the time.

The honours system got it right for once in awarding Dankworth a knighthood in 2006. As he said at the time: "It's so nice for jazz to get something like this. As far as I know I'm the first from the jazz world to get a knighthood."

Genial, friendly and quick to smile, Dankworth was described by poet Philip Larkin as "dandyish, witty, occasionally tender" as far back as 1964. But the title of Dankworth's autobiography, Jazz in Revolution, points us to the fire beneath the charm.

He, Ronnie Scott and others were the first British musicians to witness and then to explore the new avant-garde style of jazz, bebop, that emerged from New York after World War II.

As Dankworth put it: "To say that jazz was divided about the validity and desirability of bebop would be seriously understating the case. It would be like saying the Americans were a tiny bit cross with the Japanese after Pearl Harbour, or that Hitler was unkind to the Jews."

The many film scores and the television themes (The Avengers, Tomorrow's World) were important in his life - the latter, in particular, a reminder that skill in composition and orchestration of these miniatures was once more highly valued than it is today, as was the employment of real musicians, rather than the synth-sampled horns and strings that litter the soundtracks of so many contemporary shows.

But it was the jazz that really mattered. Sir John Dankworth was also, in his own modest manner, a truly English revolutionary.

He is survived by his wife Dame Cleo Laine and their two children, the double-bassist Alec Dankworth and the singer and actress Jacqui Dankworth.

- INDEPENDENT