Summer sunshine was streaming into Stapleford Granary: as a ‘full house’, well fed by the caterers, poured into this arts centre near Cambridge. We had come to hear the singer Jacqui Dankworth, accompanied by pianist, arranger (and husband) Charlie Wood.
In the intimate setting of the Granary, fourteen varied numbers were interspersed with a treasury of family anecdotes. These delighted this reviewer: the first live jazz that I ever heard was an unforgettable gig in the 1960s, with her parents Johnny Dankworth and Cleo Laine. Now, this concert included a bonus: first-hand memories of past masters like Marvin Hamlisch or Michel Legrand.
The wide range of song styles, genres and periods would be difficult to summarise (and Wood’s original arrangements often took us a long way beyond the ‘standards’ selected). The set-list from my concert notes is below, with apologies for any oversights…
To pick just a few for impact, Ms. Dankworth was Cinderella in the original West End production of Into The Woods, and this Christmas she sang “No One is Alone” in duet, with her mother Cleo (born 1927).
It was no surprise that several show-tunes were included: over three decades later, I can still recall the Dankworth’s poignant Cinderella. For Ellington’s “It Don’t mean a Thing”, she produced a fantastic scat, that one imagines the Duke himself would approve.
The evening provided two show-stoppers: a flamenco embellishment of “The Windmills Of Your Mind”, and simply amazing phrasing and control for the finale “Send in the Clowns”. The stranger sitting next to me summed up the evening’s music: we had been “in the presence of Greatness.”
SET LIST
My Ship (Weill/Ira Gershwin)
Baubles, Bangles and Beads (Wright/Forrest after Borodin.)
No One is Alone (Sondheim)
I’m Beginning to See the Light (Ellington/Hodges/James)
Lucky to be Me (Bernstein/Comden/Green)
It don’t mean a thing (Ellington)
The Windmills Of Your Mind (Legrand)
The Way We Were (Hamlisch)
Side by side (Sondheim)
You’ve got a Friend (Carole King)
The first time ever I saw your Face (MacColl)
The Folks who live on the Hill (Kern, arr. Sir John Dankworth)
Sitting on Top of the World (Vinson/Chatmon)
Send in the Clowns (Sondheim)
