CD REVIEW - THE JOHN DANKWORTH ORCHESTRA - BRITAIN'S AMBASSADOR OF JAZZ RECORDED LIVE AT THE NEWPORT JAZZ FESTIVAL, 1959


John Dankworth Orchestra - Britain's Ambassador of Jazz Recorded Live at the Newport Jazz Festival, 1959
Harkit Records HRKCD 8345 (UK)
12 Tracks 60:32 mins

This timely new release serves as a fitting tribute to the great musician and composer, who recently passed away after a long illness.
To be fair, there's nothing much to interest film score fans here, even though the four bonus tracks at the end of the disc are from Dankworth's first film score for 1960's The Criminal. But really, these play just like another four jazz tracks following on from the eight from the Newport Jazz festival. Of course, those were the days (as mentioned two reviews ago) when score cues were re-recorded and rearranged as complete musical pieces for album release, and there's nothing wrong with the Criminal tracks - it's just that they probably got this treatment, which may well satisfy those of us who are partial to jazz and long for a return to those days, but probably just won't be of much interest to those who like their film score albums faithful to how the music was heard on film.
What we do have, however, is a fine example of big band jazz of the period, with Dankworth and his fine company of musicians making their US debut at the world-famous Newport Jazz Festival in 1959, and proving they could swing it just as well as any American jazz band of the time. Original compositions merge with standards like "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" and "Take the 'A' Train" to make for an entertaining listen for jazz fans.
Prior to Dankworth scoring The Criminal he made big changes to his lineup of musicians and, interestingly, Dudley Moore plays on these recordings.
Both sets of recordings are making their CD debut here, with the colourful accompanying booklet featuring the original sleeve notes, plus a new essay by Simon Spillett.
Go to www.harkitrecords.com/dankworthnewport.html for samples and to order your copy.