Sad - but not unexpected - news that one of my all-time favourite singers just passed away at the grand old age of 97. I wrote about Cleo Laine here trough the years, since I listened her for decades and was admiring her voice forever. She will always be known as the British Queen of Jazz with fascinating and long career, mostly inseparable from her husband and musical partner John Dankworth with whom she criss-crossed continents, while experimenting with various music genres and selflessly encouraging potential musicians in the backyard of their countryside home - founded in 1970, what started as a free summer project it is called The Stables Theatre now (performers who played there include Dave Brubeck, Amy Winehouse, Nigel Kennedy and James Galway). Both Laine and her husband will be remembered for bringing Jazz to wider audiences and adding class to a genre that at the time was considered less respectable - even though they never strayed too far from Jazz, by working with wide net of musicians, they refused any pigeonholing and would enthusiastically embrace various music types (Dankworth in film music and classical, Laine in music theatre, pop, classical). Perhaps most significantly, they would set poetry in music (starting with 1950s they would set Shakespeare sonnets to Jazz and worked on this trough decades, resulting in three full albums in 1964, 1978 and 2005) and this surely speaks about their artistic merits.
Besides being totally in love with her voice and charisma (Laine was a very attractive lady with Caribbean father and British mother), I have always enjoyed the sheer wealth of her recorded music - trough the years it was always a pleasure to hear how skilfully she would approach anything from latest Carole King pop to Stephen Sondheim musicals, rowdy Bessie Smith blues to Porgy & Bess, from full-blown big orchestra to acoustic guitar or piano solo, she was always instantly recognisable and brilliant. With all these accolades, it is not surprising that her success in UK eventually opened doors to acceptance in US where she might have been the first Brit awarded with Grammy as Jazz singer of the year - her arrival cemented and immortalised as a guest in a hugely popular "The Muppet Show" that always hosted the biggest names. I watched this as a kid and I could watch it anytime again, its one of my favourite "Muppet Show" moments.
Interesting to note how UK media celebrates her, but avoids saying "the best British Jazz singer" - to avoid any possible arguments, they simply proclaim she was "the most successful British Jazz singer ever" which I guess can be no doubt. Her obituary in The Guardian is genuinely glowing and Brits are apparently really proud of her. Reading the obituaries and articles about Laine now, I was touched how many people remember the couple fondly - they were huge stars in their prime - this is perhaps the most important, this is what is left behind: not fame, not material success but to be remembered with affection for bringing beauty into lives of other people. I will love Cleo Laine forever.
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