Documentary: Johnny Dankworth

Jazz in Britain has a glorious and robust past. From the 1920 and '30s up until World War II in 1939, jazz in the U.K. was largely sweet and hotel in dance-band style. Bands were formal and highly accomplished. Remember, Cherokee was by Ray Noble, the English bandleader, composer and arranger who recorded it first in 1938. He also wrote The Touch of Your Lips, I Hadn't Anyone Till You and The Very Thought of You among many other songs. Britain had swing bands, but it wasn't until the end of the war, with the rise of recording, that leaders began forming American-style bands.

By the late-1940s, jazz shifted in Britain toward bop and small ensembles inspired by American recordings and players while big bands like Ted Heath's became Kentonized, with barn-burning arrangements and powerful solos by strong players. As the 1950s progressed, British jazz took on a personality all its own. One of the many strong players proficient in improvisation who came up in the 1950s was Johnny Dankworth, who died in 2010.

That year, the BBC broadcast an hour-long collection of performances by the bandleader and alto saxophonist, who clearly was influenced by Jimmy Dorsey. In the collection of on-camera performances, Dankworth also plays tenor saxophone and clarinet. Also featured is band vocalist and Dankworth's wife, Cleo Laine. And watch for the great clip of Dankworth and Henry Mancini on flute and piccolo playing the Pink Panther theme and Baby Elephant Walk. Here's the 2010 BBC tribute broadcast...