Jacqui Dankworth Band, Support: The Ronnie Scotts All Stars Wednesday 14th September

• Jacqui - vocals
• Chris Garrick - violin
• Ben Castle- saxes
• Chris Allard - guitars
• Malcolm Edmonstone - piano, keyboards
• Alec Dankworth - double bass
• Mike Smith  - drums

“...one of our finest singers, regardless of category,”  

 Clive Davis, Sunday Times

The Observer claimed that Jacqui Dankworth has “...probably the most flexible and expressive voice of her generation,” while the Guardian called her “a sublime American Songbook singer”.  Her recordings to date have been stylistically diverse, incorporating elements of folk, blues, and many other musical forms.  On her latest album, It Happens Quietly, Jacqui presents a selection of lush, atmospheric orchestral arrangements in collaboration with (and lovingly dedicated to) her father, the late Sir John Dankworth.

Now regarded as one of the country’s premier jazz voices, Jacqui's early work caught the ear of Sir Michael Parkinson and national acclaim soon followed.  Subsequent releases, both under her own name and with artists like the Brodsky Quartet, Courtney Pine, Tim Garland and many others, firmly secured her place at the forefront of the UK music scene.

Musician and songwriter Rod Argent says in his liner notes for the album that Jacqui’s “is a voice made to sing standards...clear as a bell, with wonderful intonation.”  Recalling a time when Jacqui sang with her father at a local concert, Argent writes that “his beautifully structured arrangement allied to Jacqui’s wonderfully moving and incisive voice had an effect on me which I’ll never forget.”

Johnny Dankworth was perhaps the UK’s best known and best loved jazz musician.  His death, at the age of 82 in February 2010, was a huge blow to music lovers both at home and abroad.  As well as being an iconic, world-renowned composer and arranger, he was also a prolific performer who played on hundreds of recordings throughout the course of his long and distinguished career.  In an entirely unplanned but magically appropriate turn of fate, the alto sax solo from an instrumental version of The Man which John had recorded several years earlier fitted the key and tempo of Jacqui's recent studio recording perfectly, without the benefit of a click track, pitch shifting, or any other technological trickery.  So this album also constitutes Sir John Dankworth's last performance on record – a fact that would have surprised even John himself!

In addition to standards such as A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square and Blame It On My Youth, the album contains some wonderful original material in the form of the hauntingly beautiful title track, It Happens Quietly (music by John Dankworth, lyrics by Buddy Kaye), and The Man, a father and daughter co-write.  Featuring original arrangements by Sir John, aided by his long standing musical assistant Ken Gibson (except on My Foolish Heart, which was arranged by pianist Malcolm Edmonston), It Happens Quietly also boasts an inspiring supporting cast of players, including Jacqui's brother Alec Dankworth on bass and saxophonist Tim Garland guesting on both the title track and At Last.

Jacqui's elegant, refined, yet deeply intimate vocals shimmer and glow in a rarefied space where jazz, classical, and popular music effortlessly mingle.  With arrangements by Sir John Dankworth and a virtual who's who of the UK jazz world at her side, Jacqui Dankworth makes It Happens Quietly a must-have recording for jazz fans worldwide.