Johnny Dankworth had a very famous big band through much of the
1950s. Its main claim to fame was the use of a 'seven section'
instead of a more usual reeds section. This 'seven section' was
based on the original Johnny Dankworth Seven which had produced
such good small group jazz.
Around 1958 (I don't recall the exact year) the enterprising new
TWW commercial television station (Television Wales and the West)
invited the Dankworth Orchestra to launch its new Jazz
Club series. Every week for several months viewers in this
part of the UK were able to enjoy the treat of great big band
jazz in the distinctive Dankworth style. I watched every single
broadcast with my father. My Dad was a classic music fan and
although he liked dixieland jazz he never took to modern jazz and
was often critical of the JD band. But - for my part - I watched
enthralled and soon started to learn trumpet because of the
sizzling affect of watching this great British big band. I had
many favourites including a number called 'Old Blues' and their
version of 'Take the 'A' Train' - also enjoyed one or two trumpet
duets between 'seven section' trumpet Dickie Hawdon and Canadian
trumpet man Kenny Wheeler (from the main trumpet section). For a
while I struggled to understand the harmonies of soloists like
Hawdon and Wheeler (I heard Dizzy, Miles etc., after I
had heard Dankworth - not before!), but I soon learned to really
love modern jazz trumpet. Also loved Danny Moss' tenor and
Johnny's alto sax playing.
Eventually the Dankworth stint (which was surprisingly long) came
to an end and TWWs Jazz Club continued mainly with small jazz
combos. I recall seeing and hearing people like Bert Courtley, Joe Harriott and
several others. It was great, but it was the several months long
Dankworth series which really confirmed and developed my love for
big band and modern jazz.
The picture above is not the original 'seven section' big band but the re-formed Dankworth band pictured in 1962. I must say that I enjoyed this band far less and felt that Dankworth had let something truly original slip away when he disbanded the original band. But maybe there were reasons for that which I am not aware of. But - for me at least - the re-formed big band (minus the famed 'seven section') was not as good. I heard the re-formed big band about four times but there appeared to be quite a few rough edges - none of the smoothness of the old big band. Originally the new band tried Dickie Hawdon as lead trumpet. Dickie, I believe I am right in saying, had never played lead in a big band before and, although he had a good range, he did not readily fit into that role. Eventually Ron Simmonds - a powerful lead trumpet - was brought in and it is Ron who appears in this 1962 picture. Whilst Ron surely 'steadied the ship,' I remained a sceptic about the band as a whole, but, there again, maybe I never heard them at their best. The trumpets in the picture - left to right - are Kenny Wheeler, Leon Calvert, Ron Simmonds and Gus Galbraith. The reeds are Danny Moss, Art Ellefson and on flute here it could be either Johnny Scott or Roy East. The trombones are Eddie Harvey, Tony Russell and with Ron Snyder retained on the tuba.
A Sad Legacy...
For me, one of the saddest things about the first and
highly original Dankworth band is that there is virtually nothing
available on CD by them. There was almost nothing on vinyl, but
the CD situation is much worse - truly sad. I might be a little critical of
John here: Has he pushed hard enough for this? Don't those of us who have avidly supported his big bands for many years in the past deserve some decent CD material now? There are, for example, volumes of good Ted Heath material available
but virtually no Dankworth except odd little bits perhaps with
the band accompanying singer Cleo Laine (John's wife of course),
or other unrepresentative things. I think that this is truly
sad.
Robin A. Brace, 2006.