Alec Dankworth

Last updated

Alec Dankworth
Alec Dankworth.jpg
Background information
Birth nameAlexander William Tamba Dankworth
Born (1960-05-14) 14 May 1960 (age 63)
Marylebone, London, England
Instrument(s)Double bass
Years active1980spresent
Website alecdankworth.com

Alexander William Tamba Dankworth [1] (born 14 May 1960) is an English jazz bassist and composer.

Contents

Early life and education

Born in London, the son of John Dankworth and Cleo Laine, Alec Dankworth grew up in the villages of Aspley Guise and Wavendon, 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, he studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, 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 albums.

Dankworth recorded an arrangement of Duke Ellington's Black, Brown, and Beige with violinist Nigel Kennedy in 1986, with whom he also performed Antonio Vivaldi's The Four Seasons . He also played in the 1980s with Dick Morrissey, Spike Robinson, Jean Toussaint, Michael Garrick, Tommy Smith, Julian Joseph, and Andy Hamilton, as well as leading his own quartet.

In 1990 he was invited to join and tour with Dave Brubeck's band, and in 1993 he worked with Abdullah Ibrahim, touring Europe and South Africa. He has played with Mose Allison, Clark Terry, Mel Tormé, Anita O'Day, Peter King, Alan Barnes, David-Jean Baptiste, Van Morrison 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, saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis and percussionist Abass Dodoo. Dankworth is also a tutor for the National Youth Jazz Collective.

Discography

As co-leader

With Alec Dankworth

As sideman

With Dave Brubeck

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerry Mulligan</span> American jazz musician (1927–1996)

Gerald Joseph Mulligan, also known as Jeru, was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though primarily known as one of the leading jazz baritone saxophonists—playing the instrument with a light and airy tone in the era of cool jazz—Mulligan was also a significant arranger working with Claude Thornhill, Miles Davis, Stan Kenton, and others. His piano-less quartet of the early 1950s with trumpeter Chet Baker is still regarded as one of the best cool jazz ensembles. Mulligan was also a skilled pianist and played several other reed instruments. Several of his compositions including "Walkin' Shoes" and "Five Brothers", have become standards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Dankworth</span> English jazz composer and musician (1927–2010)

Sir John Phillip William Dankworth, CBE, 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 was a music educator and also her music director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ronnie Scott</span> British jazz saxophonist (1927–1996)

Ronnie Scott OBE was a British jazz tenor saxophonist and jazz club owner. He co-founded Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London's Soho district, one of the world's most popular jazz clubs, in 1959.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tubby Hayes</span> British jazz musician from London

Edward Brian "Tubby" Hayes was a British jazz multi-instrumentalist, best known for his virtuosic musicianship on tenor saxophone and for performing in jazz groups with fellow sax player Ronnie Scott and trumpeter Jimmy Deuchar. He is widely considered to be one of the finest jazz saxophonists to have emerged from Britain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monterey Jazz Festival</span> Annual music festival in California since 1958

The Monterey Jazz Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Monterey, California, United States. It debuted on October 3, 1958, championed by Dave Brubeck and co-founded by jazz and popular music critic Ralph J. Gleason and jazz disc jockey Jimmy Lyons.

Allan Anthony Ganley was an English jazz drummer and arranger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club</span> Jazz club in Soho, London, England

Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club is a jazz club that has operated in Soho, London, since 1959.

The BBC Jazz Awards were set up in 2001 and had the status of one of the premier jazz awards in the United Kingdom. There were awards for Best Musician, Best Vocalist, Rising Star, Best Album, Jazz Innovation, Radio 2 Jazz Artist, Services to Jazz, Best of Jazz and others.

Philip William Seamen was an English jazz drummer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Drew</span> English jazz drummer

Martin Drew was an English jazz drummer who played with Ronnie Scott between 1975 and 1995 and with Oscar Peterson between 1974 and 2007.

William James Eyden was an English jazz drummer.

Cyril Anthony Kinsey is an English jazz drummer and composer.

Brian John Heatley, better known as Spike Heatley, was a British jazz double bassist.

The Hampton Jazz Festival is a major musical event started in 1968, and features many of the world's major jazz artists. It is held during the last full weekend in June each year, with the primary venue being Hampton, Virginia's Hampton Coliseum. Festival organizers describe it as "the best available jazz, R&B and blues artists that are on tour during the time of the festival... packaged at a reasonable price."

Simon Richard Spillett is a British jazz tenor saxophonist. He has won the BBC Jazz Awards Rising Star (2007), Jazz Journal's Critics' Choice album of the Year (2009), the British Jazz Awards Top Tenor Saxophonist (2011), and Services to British Jazz award (2016).

Jazz 625 is a BBC jazz programme featuring performances by British and American musicians, first broadcast between April 1964 and August 1966. It was created by Terry Henebery, a clarinetist recruited in 1963 as one of the new producers for BBC Two.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Holder (musician)</span> British musician

Frank Holder was a Guyanese jazz singer and percussionist. He was a member of bands led by Jiver Hutchinson, Johnny Dankworth and Joe Harriott.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Derek Nash (musician)</span> Musical artist

Derek Nash is a British jazz saxophonist, band leader, arranger and recording engineer.

<i>The 40th Anniversary Tour of the U.K.</i> 1999 live album by Dave Brubeck

The 40th Anniversary Tour of the U.K. is a 1998 live album by Dave Brubeck and his quartet recorded over three consecutive concerts in the United Kingdom, some 40 years after he had first visited the country.

<i>The Crossing</i> (Dave Brubeck album) 2001 studio album by Dave Brubeck

The Crossing is 2001 studio album by pianist Dave Brubeck and his quartet.

References