Sir John Dankworth, CBE, also known as Johnny Dankworth, was an English bandleader, jazz composer, saxophonist, clarinetist and writer of film scores.  His jazz career began in the 1940s. By 1950, he had already been the Musician of the Year in his native England. He was featured in small groups and big bands, and he started his own Orchestra in 1953. But it was marriage to one of the band's singers, Cleo Laine, that set him on the path that led to Carnegie Hall, Grammy Awards and eventually a knighthood. A close friend of Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong & Dizzy Gillespie, Dankworth was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from the Berklee College of Music in 1982.