A strange sad feeling: part of my life gone for ever …


This will mean nothing to you unless you love jazz, but Johnny Dankworth has died.


He was Sir John Dankworth, actually – one of the few who deserved that honour amongst the plethora of thieving bankers, big business graspers and political drones who diminish the value of the title.

He was one of the two or three greatest British jazz musicians in my lifetime; and his wife, Cleo Laine, an astonishing contralto, is perhaps the greatest British jazz singer ever.

I can even remember the room I was in when I heard her first-ever radio broadcast after she joined his orchestra. I was still at school, aged 16; and if my memory hasn’t failed me, so was she – 16, I mean, but not at school.


He was a wonderful musician. Tonight I feel somehow a little of my life is lost. Catch him on http://www.jazzonthetube.com/videos/sir-john-dankworth/sir-john-dankworth.html. You’ll see her too.

That’s rather selfish, isn’t it – I say a part of my life gone? We always mourn for ourselves, don’t we?


About the Author

In 2003, the Chartered Institute of Marketing named Drayton one of 50 living individuals who have shaped today’s marketing.

He has worked in 55 countries with many of the world’s greatest brands. These include American Express, Audi, Bentley, British Airways, Cisco, Columbia Business School, Deutsche Post, Ford, IBM, McKinsey, Mercedes, Microsoft, Nestle, Philips, Procter & Gamble, Toyota, Unilever, Visa and Volkswagen.

Drayton has helped sell everything from Airbus planes to Peppa Pig. His book, Commonsense Direct and Digital Marketing, out in 17 languages, has been the UK’s best seller on the subject every year since 1982. He has also run his own businesses in the U.K., Portugal and Malaysia.

He was a main board member of the Ogilvy Group, a founding member of the Superbrands Organisation, one of the first eight Honorary Fellows of the Institute of Direct Marketing and one of the first three people named to the Hall of Fame of the Direct Marketing Association of India. He has also been given Lifetime Achievement Awards by the Caples Organisation in New York and Early To Rise in Florida.

5 Comments

  1. John Counsel

    On a miserable, blustery winter's night in the early 1970s, I approached the house of a friend on Phillip Island, located at the southernmost tip of the Australian mainland, and heard the most glorious music wafting through the occasional lulls in the storm. I assumed my friend had his sound system blaring, but on entering I discovered it was none other than Cleo Laine and John Dankworth, in person. They'd been friends for years, it turned out.

    It was the most surreal occasion, but one I'll always treasure.

    Reply
  2. draytonbird

    You lucky man. I met Ronnie Scott and Tubby Hayes when I was young – but never those two.

    Reply
  3. John Counsel

    I'd called to collect something, expecting to stay 5 minutes. Ended up enjoying a private concert for nearly 3 hours. Five adults and one toddler.

    Same friend, a year later: rocked up to the front door, knocked loudly. Confronted by a wild-haired, bespectacled man with a beard and chess piece in hand. “Do you play chess?” he demanded. I replied that I didn't. “Well piss of then!” he snarled and slammed the door.
    It was Rolf Harris. Bizarre.

    Reply
  4. Bill Hilton

    I met him when I was 13, and just getting into my stride playing jazz piano. A really lovely bloke – very kind and encouraging.

    Reply
  5. martin dearden

    I never met him or her or any other jazz greats or otherwise. Not my scene. I am moved by your tribute, though.

    Reply

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