Alexander William Tamba Dankworth
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jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

bassist and composer.

Early life and education

Born in London, the son of

John Dankworth Sir John Phillip William Dankworth, CBE (20 September 1927 – 6 February 2010), also known as Johnny Dankworth, was an English jazz composer, saxophonist, clarinettist and writer of film scores. With his wife, jazz singer Dame Cleo Laine, he ...

and

Cleo Laine Dame Cleo Laine, Lady Dankworth (born Clementine Dinah Hitching; 28 October 1927) is an English singer and actress known for her scat singing. She is the widow of jazz composer and musician Sir John Dankworth and the mother of bassist Alec D ...

, Alec Dankworth grew up in the villages of

Aspley Guise Aspley Guise is a village and civil parish in the west of Central Bedfordshire, England. In addition to the village of Aspley Guise itself, the civil parish also includes part of the town of Woburn Sands, the rest of which is in the City of Milt ...

and

Wavendon Wavendon is a village and civil parish in the south east of the Milton Keynes urban area, in Buckinghamshire, England. History and geography The village name is an Old English language word, and means 'Wafa's hill'. In the ''Anglo-Saxon Chron ...

, living at the Old Rectory, Wavendon, where his parents established the Wavendon All-Music Plan (WAP) that includes the Stables Theatre. After attending

Bedford School Bedford School is a 7–18 Single-sex education, boys Public school (United Kingdom), public school in the county town of Bedford in England. Founded in 1552, it is the oldest of four independent schools in Bedford run by the Harpur Trust. Bed ...

, he studied at the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Massachusetts in 1978, before joining his parents' quintet.

Biography

Between 1980 and 1983 he toured the United States, Australia, and Europe with them, going on to work with Tommy Chase, the BBC Big Band, and Clark Tracey, with whom he recorded two

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

s. Dankworth recorded an arrangement of

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

's '' Black, Brown, and Beige'' with violinist

Nigel Kennedy Nigel Kennedy (born 28 December 1956) is an English violinist and viola, violist. His early career was primarily spent performing classical music, and has since expanded into jazz music, jazz, klezmer, and other music genres. Early life and ...

in 1986, with whom he also performed

Antonio Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist, impresario of Baroque music and Roman Catholic priest. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lif ...

's '' The Four Seasons''. He also played in the 1980s with

Dick Morrissey Richard Edwin Morrissey (9 May 1940 – 8 November 2000) was a British jazz musician and composer. He played the tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone and flute. Biography Background He was born in Horley, Surrey, England. Dick Morrissey emerged ...

Spike Robinson Henry Bertholf "Spike" Robinson (January 16, 1930 – October 29, 2001) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. He began playing at age twelve, recording on several labels, including Discovery, Hep and Concord. However, he sought an engineering ...

, Jean Toussaint, Michael Garrick, Tommy Smith, Julian Joseph, and

Andy Hamilton Andrew Neil Hamilton (born 28 May 1954) is a British comedian, game show panellist, television director, comedy screenwriter, radio dramatist, novelist and actor. Early life and education Hamilton was born in Fulham, West London. He was educa ...

, as well as leading his own quartet. In 1990 he was invited to join and tour with

Dave Brubeck David Warren Brubeck (; December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Often regarded as a foremost exponent of cool jazz, Brubeck's work is characterized by unusual time signatures and superimposing contrasti ...

's band, and in 1993 he worked with

Abdullah Ibrahim Abdullah Ibrahim (born Adolph Johannes Brand on 9 October 1934), previously known as Dollar Brand, is a South African pianist and composer. His music reflects many of the musical influences of his childhood in the multicultural port areas of Cap ...

, touring Europe and South Africa. He has played with

Mose Allison Mose John Allison Jr. (November 11, 1927 – November 15, 2016) was an American jazz and blues pianist, singer, and songwriter. He became notable for playing a unique mix of blues and modern jazz, both singing and playing piano. After moving to N ...

Clark Terry Clark Virgil Terry Jr. (December 14, 1920 – February 21, 2015) was an American Swing music, swing and bebop trumpeter, a pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz, and a composer and educator. He played with Charlie Barnet (1947), Count Basie (1948� ...

Mel Tormé Melvin Howard Tormé (September 13, 1925 – June 5, 1999), nicknamed "the Velvet Fog", was an American musician, singer, composer, arrangement, arranger, drummer, actor, and author. He composed the music for "The Christmas Song" ("Chestnuts Roa ...

Anita O'Day Anita Belle Colton (October 18, 1919 – November 23, 2006), known professionally as Anita O'Day, was an American jazz singer and self-proclaimed “song stylist” widely admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band appe ...

, Peter King, Alan Barnes, David-Jean Baptiste,

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

and Martin Taylor, among others. He also co-led a 14-piece band with his father, John Dankworth: the Alec and John Dankworth Generation Band (or "Generation Band"), with which he has recorded two albums. In 2013 Dankworth toured with the Ginger Baker Jazz Confusion, a quartet comprising Dankworth on bass, drummer

Ginger Baker Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker (19 August 1939 – 6 October 2019) was an English drummer. His work in the 1960s and 1970s earned him the reputation of "rock's first superstar drummer", for a style that melded jazz and Music of Africa, Africa ...

, saxophonist

Pee Wee Ellis Alfred James Rogers (April 21, 1941 – September 23, 2021), known as Pee Wee Ellis due to his diminutive stature, was an American saxophonist, composer, and arranger. With a background in jazz, he was a member of James Brown's band in the 19 ...

and percussionist Abass Dodoo. Dankworth is also a tutor for the National Youth Jazz Collective.

Discography

As co-leader

With Alec Dankworth * ''Nebuchadnezzar'' (Ronnie Scott's Jazz House, 1994) * ''Rhythm Changes'' (Ronnie Scott's Jazz House, 1996)

As sideman

With

* '' The 40th Anniversary Tour of the U.K.'' (

Telarc Telarc International Corporation is an American audiophile independent record label founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner and Robert Woods. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, the label has had a long assoc ...

, 1999) * ''Dave Brubeck: Live with the LSO'' (Telarc, 2000) * '' The Crossing'' (Telarc, 2001) * ''Double Live from the U.S.A. and U.K.'' (Telarc, 2001)

References

*Ian Carr, Digby Fairweather, & Brian Priestley. ''Jazz: The Rough Guide''. *Richard Cook & Brian Morton. ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD'' 6th edition.

External links

* Alec Dankworth— discography from Allmusic {{DEFAULTSORT:Dankworth, Alec 1960 births Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama British jazz double-bassists British male double-bassists English bass guitarists English male bass guitarists English jazz composers English male composers Living people British male jazz composers People educated at Bedford School People from Aspley Guise Musicians from the City of Westminster People from Marylebone 21st-century British double-bassists 21st-century English male musicians Dave Brubeck Quartet members Basho Records artists