Sir John Dankworth, a mainstay of the British jazz scene for over 60 years, has died, his management has said.

Saxophonist Sir John, who was 82, wrote the theme tune for The Avengers and served as musical director to the likes of Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald.

Dankworth Management's Becky Stevenson said he had died on Saturday at King Edward VII Hospital, London.

Sir John, who was knighted at Buckingham Palace in 2006, was married to the singer Dame Cleo Laine.

The couple met in 1950 while he was auditioning for singers with his band, the Dankworth Seven.

He also leaves a son and a daughter, both jazz musicians.

In 1993 Sir John formed the Dankworth Generation Band, with his son Alec.

Charity founder

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, where he played with the legendary Charlie Parker.

In the 1960s, Sir John scored such films as Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, The Servant and Modesty Blaise.

Sir John and Dame Cleo founded their charity, the Wavendon Allmusic Plan, in 1969, which led to the establishment of the Stables arts centre in the grounds of their Buckinghamshire home.

He was appointed CBE in 1974 and founded the London Symphony Orchestra Summer Pops in 1985.

Sir John was a fellow of the Royal Academy of Music and received the Freedom of the City of London in 1994.

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