Sir John and Dame Cleo met in 1950 while he was auditioning for singers with his band, the Dankworth Seven. In 1993 Sir John formed the Dankworth Generation Band, with his son Alec. After winning a place at the Royal Academy of Music aged 17, and following a short spell in the Army, the young Sir John was voted British Musician of the Year in 1949. The same year he attended the Paris Jazz Festival