British singer Cleo Laine, 97, died on July 24. She often collaborated with her husband (from 1958 till his death in 2010), composer and reed player John Dankworth. She had been singing in clubs for years when she met Dankworth and began performing with his sextette: “In a sense, with them, I started at the top,” she said. The pair toured all over the world, singing and playing everything from Shakespeare (arranged by Dankworth), Gershwin, Schoenberg, Sondheim; they performed with Any Winehouse, Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra: “It was outrageous sometimes,” Laine admitted of her best years. “I could do anything I wanted.” Laine also sang in several movies, including The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone. She was nominated for Grammys in the pop, jazz (scat!), and classical categories, but it’s her soft, smooth jazz that’s best remembered. Her children Alec and Jacqui Dankworth are a bass player and singer, respectively. After John Dankworth’s death, Laine admitted, “it’s not easy. We were joined at the hip. We would always sit and talk about how things were going to be done. I miss all that.”
Cleo Laine and John Dankworth, “Lady, Be Good” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e48tmnqg5bc&list=RDe48tmnqg5bc&start_radio=1
