Jacqueline Dankworth

The daughter of British jazz-pop vocalist Cleo Laine and saxophone/clarinet player John Dankworth, Jacqueline Dankworth continues to establish her own legacy as a highly-talented jazz/pop vocalist. Her debut album, First Cry, released in 1994, was a collaboration with jazz vibraphonist Anthony Kee, while her second effort, Field Of Blue, released in 1995, was recorded at London nightclub, Ronnie Scott's, with songwriting partner Harvey Brough, formerly with Harvey And The Wallbangers, Martin Brunsden on bass and didgeridoo and John F. Miller on piano. A follow-up album with the same musicians, Still, was released in 1997. Launching her career, as an actress, in the mid-1980s, Dankworth appeared in many productions with the Royal Shakespeare Company. A regular performer in the theaters of London's West End, she appeared in such shows as the Ellington revue, Sophisticated Ladies, Stephen Sondheim's Into The Woods and Christopher Hampton's Les Liasons Dangereuses. Turning to music, Dankworth toured the Orient with the Alec and Jacqui Dankworth Quintet, a group she formed with her brother, Alec. She later toured India with the John Dexter Company and shared a duo with pianist David Gordon. In 1996, she toured, along with Monica Vasconcelos, Norma Winstone and Christine Tobin, in saxophonist Tim Garland's musical production, Songs Of Love And Hatred. ~ Craig Harris, All Music Guide