Cleo Laine and John Dankworth

> Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds

I guess the word retirement is not in John Dankworth's vocabulary for at 77 he is still going strong.

He and his wife Cleo have just returned from Australia and the States and this was their first show in the UK since then.

The first half was devoted to the works of Duke Ellington and was a wonderful instrumental section.

The Quintet was simply magnificent and they each had turns of solo parts. Mark Nightingdale on trombone was especially amusing with his rubber plunger bit but he gave a terrific performance. This half opened with a bang with their rendition of John Hardy's wife.

Plenty of humour abounded from John, who acted as a narrator.

Later there was plenty of husband and wife bickering over the order of songs, which went down well with the audience.

And so to part two, which was Cleo's. What a powerful voice and stage presence she has. The range of her singing was quite something. She spoke fondly of her family and in particular her father who had such an influence on her. To complete the family circle, their son Alex was playing double bass. This was a highly entertaining and enjoyable evening with powerful performances from everyone.